


Falling Stars - Magic & Stars Trilogy Ending

by DragonDreads (cjbage)



Series: Magic & Stars [3]
Category: Elder Scrolls, Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, Mass Effect Trilogy
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Canon-Typical Violence, Explicit Language, Explicit Sexual Content, F/M, Not Beta Read, Not Canon Compliant, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Work In Progress
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-05-16
Updated: 2020-02-05
Packaged: 2020-03-06 10:45:44
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 11
Words: 40,490
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18849490
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cjbage/pseuds/DragonDreads
Summary: Part 3 of the Magic & Stars seriesThe Reapers have come; just as Shepard had predicted they would. Now worlds burned and people were dying everywhere. She fled to her ship with only a few crew members to help fight them, and finally, after almost six months of forced separation, she reunites with her husband.Vashlani, a khajiit mage of great power, comes from the land of Tamriel and had waited to hear from his beloved. When the call finally came, he kissed their daughter and told her that Mama would be home soon then jumped through the dimensional portal to join his wife.Together, with a group of new and old teammates, they face the possible annihilation of every advanced race in the galaxy and work to stop that from happening.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Standard Disclaimer:
> 
> Bioware owns all the Mass Effect Universe, not limited to recognizable characters and locations.  
> Bethesda Softworks owns The Elder Scrolls franchise and Tamriel  
> Any original characters are my own. There is no monetary gain from this work. All I am doing is experimenting with the game setting and its characters.  
> Please do not use my original characters in a different story unless permission is asked for and received.

* * *

 

 

Shepard allowed the guards to strip her of the uniform she wore and check her for anything she could use as a weapon or possibly contain something to help her escape custody. When a guard eyed her wedding band and engagement ring with the large gems studding it she growled a warning.

  
“You touch those and you die. You may think I’m a criminal. You may assume I worked for an enemy. I have fundamental human rights, and by law, you may not remove any item which is a symbol of my faith or legal marriage. So get your greedy eyes off my rings.”

  
The female sneered and reached for them; Shepard decked her and sent her flying into the wall. “I warned you. What about you? You want to try.”

  
The other guard shook her head no and noted it on the datapad. Of course, they recorded everything and she didn’t want a reprimand on her record. The guards were told not to mess with the Commander. The one on the floor had to learn the hard way.  
“You’ve been issued two sets of standard military issued basic fatigues, two standard bras, two underwear, two pairs of socks, and one set of boots. You’re also allowed two plain white tees and shorts for sleepwear. If you’re cleared to use the training facilities, you will be issued PT uniforms then. Here is your basic issue hygiene kit. Your personal belongings will be given to personnel to be placed in storage, if you’re released later they’ll return the items to you,” the guard read off the datapad then held it out to Shepard. “Please digitally sign the document. We’re going to the medical center next. They’ll remove your omni tool as evidence and issue you a new one.”

  
“Well, issue me one all you want, but I want my wedding holos transferred over. That’s all I care about on the tool.”

  
“Noted. Dress and follow me.”

* * *

 

Vashlani thought he would go mad within the first week of being away from Shepard knowing the Alliance held her prisoner. He sent message after message and hadn’t received a single answer. He sent one to Joker and still waited for a reply. He decided to go to the College and spend time with Sophie and the other mages to take his mind off Shepard not being with him at home.

  
At the end of the first month, he received a message from Joker. “Vash, it’s not good. They took Shepard’s omni tool and aren’t allowing her any visitors or messages of any kind to go in or out. I’ve tried to see her and so has Doc, but they denied us. She handed them the Normandy and they went in and started to strip everything. They’re making a mess of my... of the ship. I was able to save the two vases and the Dwemer plate before they came on board. EDI had everything personal scrubbed from the data banks. I’ll try to keep you informed if anything changes, but we have to be careful because there are already engineers suspicious of EDI not being a simple VI program. Take care Vash.”

  
He sat on the bench inside his gazebo and read the message again. Urz came and laid down at his feet as Sophie swung on the outdoor play set he had installed inside the pocket bag for her.

  
“What’s Vashlani going to do, Urz? He misses Shepard terribly and so does Sophie. Now they won’t even let us talk to her.”

“Papa? What’s wrong? Is it about Mama?” The small nord child asked as she leaned against him.

“Yes, my darling cub. Joker said they had stopped your mama from talking or seeing anyone. They cannot get a message to her from us or bring one from her. We shall just have to wait now. Your mama said if she could find someplace to do so safely she would call me and I would go to her. Even if it is for a few minutes to tell her of our love for her.”

  
The dark haired girl gave a small nod and brushed away the tears trailing down her face. “I hope Mama can come home soon.”

  
“That is my hope as well, Sophie. Come, let us go to the alchemy room and begin today’s lesson. It should help take our minds away from our worry over your mama for a short time.”

* * *

 

Shepard leaned against the only window in the small one-room “apartment” in the Systems Alliance Headquarters building they assigned her. The window was shatterproof and bulletproof; the room was escape proof. She sighed and turned when she heard the door open.

  
The burly Marine they assigned to be her guard entered the room with the rations to be her lunch today. She was currently in between interrogations and just wanted everyone to leave her alone for more than five minutes so she could call for Vashlani. Even her guard slept on a cot just inside the door. The only safe area in this whole place was the minuscule bathroom; cameras and listening devices were everywhere else.

  
She had long ago figured out her omni tool was useless. The only things it could do was tell time, work as a calendar, and send her “appointment” reminders. Oh, and she could play Sudoku on it. The only redeeming feature was it contained a copy of all of her wedding holos.

  
“I come bearing lunch, Commander,” James said as he placed the tray on the small table and pulled out a chair for her.

  
She snorted and shook her head before sitting down.

  
“Well, they aren’t my abuela’s huevos rancheros, but at least it’s not another ration bar.” He sat down across from her and waited for her to start eating before he took a bite and grimaced, he looked up and saw the same look on Shepard’s face.

  
“Ugh, I think I’d rather eat the ration bar; wrapper and all, than eat this crap.” She dropped her fork and let out a sigh. “Man, I miss Vashlani’s cooking. He made homemade bread with fresh butter and thick, delicious stews with the sweetest pastry desserts.”

  
“Who’s Vashlani?”

  
Shepard opened her eyes and looked at him with a raised eyebrow. “He’s my husband.” She raised her hand and wiggled the rings on her finger.

  
“You’re married? No one said anything about that. Why hasn’t he come to see you?” James wasn’t so sure he liked the man who left the Commander to sit in prison all alone.

  
“If you haven’t noticed no one has come to see me. Haven’t you found it odd? Hm? No messages and no visitors? No extranet to send emails.” She crossed her arms and watched as his face reddened.

  
She fiddled with her omni tool and leaned over to show him the wedding holos they took. Well, only those EDI had transferred over, and they only showed a few members of the Normandy standing in front of a backdrop of autumn trees and a lake.

  
“You married a quarian?”

  
Shepard didn’t answer but went about stirring the mess on her plate and trying to choke more of it down.

  
“They’ll get off their asses soon Commander and will start to listen to you. I believe you about the Reapers, and I saw what the Collectors were doing; first hand.”

  
“Yeah, maybe. Thanks, James. Listen, I still have about thirty minutes before the next interrogation begins, do you think you can take your time taking the tray back so I can get a bit of a longer shower for once? Break the two-minute rule.”

  
He snorted then rubbed the short hair on his head. “I can’t give you much longer, maybe ten minutes at the most.”

  
She smiled and nodded then hurried over to a footlocker to take out her other set of clothes and went into the bathroom. The second she heard the door open then close she stripped her clothes off and whispered, “Io ti chiamo, Vashlani.” She took a few steps into the actual stall when the blue swirling light appeared.

  
When his amulet glowed, he told Sophie to wait right there and keep an eye on the potion. Then ran out of the room, into the portal room, and leaped through the blue swirling portal.

  
He landed in a small room as he heard a gasp to his left and turned quickly. Shepard stood there, nude, and held her arms out. He rushed her; his lips were crushed against hers as he growled and held her tight. Within seconds the alarm sounded.

  
“They know an intruder is here; you have to go Vashlani. I wanted to let you know I haven’t forgotten you and love you very much. I hope to be with you soon. You need to go, now.”

  
“Sophie misses you; as do I. We love you and want you to come home. Come with me, ahziss isha.” Vashlani kissed her cheek and tried to kiss her again when she gently pushed him away.

  
“I can’t. Not yet, now go. Hurry the guards will be here in seconds.”

  
He growled and touched her face one last time and disappeared. She hurriedly turned on the water and ducked under the spray as she heard the door swish open.

  
“What the fuck do you think you’re doing coming in here when I’m in the shower. Get the hell out of here!” she yelled at the guards, and saw Vega’s face flame. She grabbed her towel and wrapped it around her.

  
“The alarms sounded an intruder in this area,” a guard stupidly said while swinging his weapon around.

  
“For fuck’s sake. Do you see anyone? Was the damn door locked when you got here? Where the fuck do you think someone could be hiding; in my footlocker? Or maybe you think someone can squeeze through the two inch round pipe behind the standard wall vent.” She pushed out of the room and past the guards.

  
“Vega left less than five minutes ago. Do you think someone had enough time to break into the HQ, make it all the way to the brig, get past the outside guards, into this room and lock the door, only to leave the room again within that time and not be seen?”

  
“Guys, there’s no one here. You both were right outside the door and it was locked. No one could have gotten in here, only the station guard and I have the key card. Contact the techs and have them check the system,” James told them then muttered an apology to Shepard before they walked out the room and locked it behind them.

  
She held it together long enough to make it back into the bathroom and close the door before she collapsed against the wall.

 

* * *

  
She hadn’t dared call Vashlani again; it had been too close, and they would know something was up if the alarm sounded again since the techs said they couldn’t find anything wrong with it. Now here it was five months later, and still, the committee sat there with their heads up their asses and asked the same stupid questions over and over. She’d been in lockup now for six months, and she could tell they did absolutely nothing to prepare for the Reapers. She bought them precious time, and it cost her a piece of her soul when she did it, and they were wasting it with their stupidity.

  
Once more she dressed for the day and ate the tasteless mess James said was food before she stood looking out the small window which was her only real link to the outside world. She didn’t see a single person preparing for an invasion. Instead, she saw people wandering around as if they had nothing to worry about; as if they had all the time in the world. She glimpsed a child playing and wondered what her daughter was doing and chuckled softly. She had an adopted daughter who lived in a different dimension with a husband who looked like a human-sized cat and could cast magic spells. They even had a huge, magical home which fit into a small pouch. She shook her head still not believing it herself sometimes.

  
She turned when the door opened, James ran through and saluted her. She also saw many people outside running and heard shouts.

  
“Commander, they want to see you, immediately.”

  
“You’re not to call me Commander anymore, James.” She took several steps toward him.

  
“Not supposed to salute you either.” He shrugged as they hurried out the door and toward the steps leading to the Committee’s chambers.

  
Admiral Anderson met them on the stairs and told her something happened but he wasn’t sure what. When she asked if it concerned the Reapers, he didn’t give her a straight answer, and she started hissing under her breath that they both knew they were out of time.

  
“Look, I believe you, Shepard. The Committee is scared, just go in there and talk to them.”

  
“It’s too fucking late, the Reapers are here, and they wasted all the damn time I bought for them and now... now they want to listen to me?”

  
She stopped and turned to James trying to get her anger under control while Anderson met with someone else, she turned back when she heard Kaidan’s voice.

  
She listened for a few seconds and frowned before she approached them. She was surprised Kaidan had somehow received another promotion. She gave a slight shake of her head before following Anderson into the room to find out what happened to cause the panic.

  
“Do? You’re asking what we should do? I told you how many times, and for how long about what should have already been done. Now because you wasted time, and ignored everything I had ever told you, it’s now too late to do anything. All that’s left is to fight or die. That’s it. There’s nothing else.”

  
“But -" The woman wasn’t able to finish yet another idiotic, time-wasting remark because a Reaper used its laser beam to slice right through buildings, and the Alliance HQ happened to be one of the ones in its path.

  
Anderson roused her into consciousness. After doing a quick cursory check on the others in the room, she picked up a pistol off of a dead guard then jumped out the broken window and landed on a maintenance catwalk. The two of them began to run.

  
After they killed several rather fast moving husks, they broke into a building and she scooped up another heatsink off the floor next to a broken window. Anderson started talking, but a slight movement inside the room’s vent caused her to look over. She spotted a kid inside and tried to get him to come out only to have him disappear when Anderson came over and said something to her. She started to point into the vent then dropped her hand, her brows furrowed as she realized Anderson hadn’t heard or seen a damn thing concerning the kid.

  
Between the two of them, they got the stuck door open and slipped inside. The two of them made their way past several busted store windows. Shepard hissed out for Anderson to give her a second. She ducked into the Sirta Foundation’s store and started to root around in their broken display cases.

  
“What the hell are you doing? We don’t have time for this shit.”

  
“I need a damn omni tool, Anderson. Unless you want me to try and beat the fucking Reapers by uploading a game of Sudoku to them because that’s the only fucking thing the one they gave me can do.” She found one still in the package and quickly removed the safety seal from it. Anderson came over to help hold her arm steady. She gritted her teeth against the pain when she cut off the skin patch, which covered the omni tool port on the underside of her forearm with a piece of broken glass. Once she had the old tool out and tucked into the small pocket of her fatigue pants, she inserted the new one and replaced the skin patch. Anderson handed her a tiny tube of medi-gel which barely sealed it enough to hold the skin on. She hissed as the new omni tool synced up to her system, and they ran as it booted up.

  
They came across several injured soldiers who told them about a radio and warned them of Reaper troops swarming the area. Shepard removed several medi-gel packs from the container sitting on a crate and applied one over the skin patch to fully heal it then she helped to lift the metal beam pinning a soldier down.

  
They heard several shots and looked up to see mutated Reaper units coming their way, and Shepard took care of them before she and Anderson started to run again.

  
When they found the radio it only worked for a few moments, but in that time they learned that the Normandy was still safe and under the temporary command of Kaidan. Joker, Kaidan, and James were on the ship as was a handful of other people, and they were trying to dodge Reaper fire.

  
The Reapers started to drop into the area faster, and they seemed intent on getting to Shepard. She had begun to run short on ammo and for a split second thought about summoning Vashlani, but with Anderson there the words didn’t seem to form in her head. She also didn’t want to take the chance on him popping in without his armor and ready for a fight. Finally, they heard Joker come back over the comm; then the Normandy came into view shooting what Reapers she and Anderson hadn’t.

  
When she leaped onto the lowered shuttle bay door and turned around, she noticed Anderson hadn’t moved. He told her he wasn’t going but he’d stay here and gather as many soldiers he could to try and hold back the Reapers. He threw her tags back to her as he told her to get to the Citadel and get them help. He told her to make them listen if they wouldn’t, because they couldn’t do this on their own. She nodded while clutching her tags and turned from him. When she opened her hand, she saw they weren’t her old tags, her medallion was once again gone, and she thanked the Gods for the ring on her finger.

  
She strode through the shuttle bay with James right behind her complaining the entire time, when she made it to the console she turned on him. “Look, don’t you think I’d rather be down there fighting too? Anderson gave me my orders. We’re going to the Citadel to get help. You want off? You do it there. Until then you follow my command, is that understood?” She didn’t give him a second thought as she heard Joker tell her a comm came in from Hackett. It was distorted and EDI couldn’t clear it up much more, but she heard enough to know that he wanted her to go to the Mars archive to get Liara from there and to find out what she had found about the Reapers.

  
“You heard him, Joker, set course for the Mars Archives.”

  
“Commander, aren’t we missing someone?” Joker sounded innocent as he asked the question.

  
“Taking care of it now.” She laughed and went to stand in the middle of the mostly empty shuttle bay. Her voice was barely above a whisper as she held up her hand and said, “Io ti chiamo, Vashlani.”

  
“What the hell’s she doing?” James asked Kaidan, who frowned and shrugged then started to cuss when he saw the glowing swirl appear.

 

* * *

  
“Here Papa, let me have your cape, I’ll put it in the basket for you. I made five health potions for you to look at later. They look alright, but I’m still not sure if I cut the blisterwort into small enough pieces.”

  
“Thank you, Sophie. Papa has more sabrecat meat in his bag along with venison. After Papa rests for a bit, we will unpack it and begin to tan the skins.” He pulled off his travel bag and set it on the floor next to the empty chests in the portal room then stretched. It had been a long day of hunting in Winterhold where several snowy sabrecats had attacked a new farm. It had taken all day for Urz to track them and for Vashlani and the varren to take them down. Luckily for them, Urz had gotten better about not ripping the cats up too badly and destroying the pelts; once cured they would bring in a rather large bounty.

  
The girl eagerly nodded then gasped. “Papa the amulet, Mama’s calling for you.”

  
Vashlani opened his eyes and looked down before he kissed his daughter on the forehead. “Papa will be right back, Cub; this time hopefully with Mama. Take care of the pets.”

  
He turned and cast the spell to activate the portal and jumped through.

 

* * *

  
Vashlani appeared on the other side of the portal and landed on all fours; his tail flicked rapidly and his ears laid back on his head. He growled when he heard someone start shouting until he turned and saw his wife walking toward him. He stood and opened his arms, Shepard walked into them and hugged him before stepping back and started to explain what happened while gripping his arms. Vashlani looked over at the two men when she told him about James and Kaidan.

  
“She had to go and call the cat,” Kaidan growled. He knew Vashlani was powerful and had never forgiven him for the incident with those bottles. He would probably be happy to fry him because of the way he acted on Horizon, but when did she get involved with the alien?

  
“Who and what is that?” James asked as the couple still hadn’t separated yet.

  
“That’s Vashlani. He claims he’s called a khajiit from another dimension.”

  
“Wait... that’s Vashlani? That’s her husband? I thought she married a quarian.”

  
“Husband?” Kaidan didn’t like the sound of that one bit. One of the reasons they assigned him to Horizon was because he told the investigators of an unknown crewman and no one else backed up his claim. With the strange way the khajiit kept disappearing and reappearing he never really trusted the alien.

  
“Welcome back, Vash. Commander, hate to break up your long overdue reunion but ETA to Mars is fifteen minutes,” Joker said and sounded happy as could be with the khajiit’s return to the ship.

  
“Thanks, Joker,” Shepard said and took a moment to enjoy the way Vashlani nuzzled her neck and purred before she dropped her hands from his arms.

  
“Vashlani, get suited up. We’re on the way to Mars. Liara is there and she’s got some Intel. We need to get her and it off the planet; then we head to the Citadel.”

  
They walked over to where a set of N7 armor was laid out and she frowned when she saw it was a female’s gear. “Where did this come from?”

  
“Anderson. I think he knew this was coming. He’s been trying to get the techs to work faster on the changes they wanted to make to this ship,” Kaidan said to her as he watched her pick up the armor and carry it to the colorization machine.

  
“Ahziss isha, I’ll head back and get ready. Our cub would like to see you; she missed her Mama when they took you from us.” Vashlani ran his hand over her slightly longer hair.

  
“Cub? You have a kid with him?” James asked and almost dropped the shotgun he had begun to mod at the workbench.

  
“Yes, we have a beautiful daughter,” she said before turning back to Vashlani. “Tell Sophie it’s too dangerous right now. I will come to see her just as soon as I can, and give her my love.” She kissed his cheek and started to put on her armor.

  
“EDI, is Vashlani’s special room okay?”

  
“I’m glad you’re back with us, Vashlani. The techs have been using it as a storage room; it is not available at this time. With the Commander’s permission, I’ll send a crew member to move everything but the cot out.”

  
“Thanks, EDI and be sure to let them know not to scuff the floor.”

  
He nuzzled Shepard once more before he walked to an opening between stacks of crates, turned a corner then disappeared.

  
“Commander? What the hell is going on?” James asked as he and Kaidan also suited up.

  
“What do you mean?”

  
“What is that –,” he stopped when he saw the glare she gave him.

  
“Vashlani is a who, not a what. Remember that Lieutenant if you don’t want to get on his bad side, and trust me you do not want him angry with you. All you need to know is he’s a member of the ground crew, and you’re to keep your mouth shut about him. Oh, and don’t stop in front of him if we’re fighting something unless you want him to disintegrate you.”

  
James started to laugh and noticed neither of the other two was. “Wait, you’re not joking, are you? He can do that?”

  
“He can do that, or set you on fire and burn you to fine ash or freeze you solid,” Shepard told him, her lips set as she ran the safety check on her suit’s seals.

 

“What kind of weapon does he use to do that?”

  
She blinked and let out a snort. “You’ll see.”

  
She used the controls to lower one of the shuttles to get ready to board when Vashlani came back around the corner in his armor and cape with a long, black staff strapped to his back. The staff’s one end had been carved into a dragon’s claw and a glowing, crackling sphere hung suspended between the talons.

  
When they got on the shuttle, Vashlani handed Shepard a small sack. “These are from Sophie, my love. She told me to tell you she loves you, and misses you, and hopes the potions she made help keep you safe.” He bent down and kissed her cheek before putting on his helmet. “That’s from her as well.”

  
“She’s started to learn alchemy? I’ve missed so much of our daughter’s life, damn it.” She removed the small phials and tucked them into her suit compartment.

  
“She knew you couldn’t be with us. She didn’t fully understand why you couldn’t send her a message with the data pads, but she did her best to understand.”

  
“I tried, they had all communications with me blocked.”

  
He nodded in understanding.

  
“Tell me more about what we are up against. What happened before you called me?”

  
Shepard explained as much as she could and told him what they saw as their ship left Vancouver.

  
He let out a worried purr. “After this mission, I’ll go to the College and get them to start stocking as many healing potions and scrolls as they can. We’ve been stocking food and so has the Dragonborn. We can’t supply everyone, but we may be able to help in a small way. We can at least keep the crew fed, and take a bit of the hunger from others.”

  
“Commander, there’s a storm heading this way, we have maybe thirty minutes before we lose comms with the Normandy.”

  
“Acknowledged, Vega. Let’s go.” Shepard unhooked her Revenant and jumped from the shuttle followed by the others.

 

* * *

  
The first time a thunderbolt followed by a flaming female throwing fireballs flew past him, Vega fell on his ass and scooted away from Vashlani while swearing in Spanish. He recovered enough to cover Vashlani as the khajiit dove behind a small outcropping before watching the guy hold up both hands with his palms out and shoot what looked like white light from them. Those lights embedded themselves into the Cerberus troops who were shooting at them almost as if they were projectiles.

  
Once they made it into the base, he asked what the hell all of it was. Vashlani told him that just as he used guns as weapons, a mage uses magic.

  
“Magic? Like the stuff from fantasy stories and fairy tales?”

  
“It’s real, Vega. So are giants and dragons. We’ve seen mammoths alive and well where he comes from,” Shepard told him.

  
Vega tried to wrap his mind around the news when Kaidan began to ask Shepard about why Cerberus was on Mars. He still didn’t seem to believe she had never been with Cerberus, only used them for the ship and resources The Illusive Man could supply to take care of the Collectors. The Alliance certainly hadn’t been forthcoming with anything. She also told him she didn’t know why they were there.

  
They moved through the compound and eventually found Liara; who tried to escape from several Cerberus troops by using a ventilation shaft.

  
Liara gave them a very basic rundown of why she was there and what she found so far. She was sure that down in the lower archives a record contained something the Protheans designed to fight the Reapers.

  
Something caught Shepard’s eye and Liara told her the tram they saw must be heading to the archives and they had to beat Cerberus there since it seemed they were after the same thing.

  
“Vega, get back to the shuttle and get it ready for us to blow this place as soon as we get the Intel.” He had started to argue, but Shepard told him it was an order, so he headed back toward the lift.

 

* * *

  
Vega didn’t know what was happening inside the complex, but the storm steadily got worse, and he kept losing comms with both Shepard and the Normandy. They had to get the hell off the planet and soon. He heard a burst of yelling over the comms about stopping the shuttle and he looked up to see a Cerberus shuttle trying to lift off. He used the manual controls to override the safety on their shuttle and flew straight for it.

  
When he rammed the side of it, he thought it was all over as both shuttles crashed, barely missing Shepard and the rest of the crew. He watched in horror as a machine exited the other shuttle, grab Major Alenko and bashed him against the burning Cerberus craft. Shepard started shooting the thing while Vashlani glowed with a white-gold light and hovered over Liara.

  
James jumped out of the shuttle and ran to help Shepard and the Major. She picked up an unconscious Kaidan and draped him over her shoulder in a fireman carry while he followed her orders to grab the mech because it may still contain the Intel it stole.

Vashlani helped Liara into the shuttle then sank to one knee to check Kaidan. A soft glow started around them as James looked on. Vashlani shook his head when Shepard looked back before lifting off in the damaged shuttle.


	2. Chapter 2

* * *

 

 

While Liara and Vashlani worked on trying to stabilize Kaidan, Shepard went to talk with Hackett. She explained everything that happened and said they were on the way to the Citadel because of his injuries, but Liara and Vashlani stabilized him enough to survive the jump.

Hackett blinked. “Vashlani was never far from me Admiral and was just waiting for this to happen then rejoin me. You shouldn’t have kept us from sending messages, he is not happy at all with the Alliance.”

“It was not my call, Shepard. It was the Defense Committee’s attempt to keep any intel about you contained.”

She frowned at him and hummed her disbelief.

Liara walked in at that moment and told her everything that could be done had been. “The Major’s as stable as we can make him and EDI’s going over the mech we brought on board to try to assemble more of the pieces of the schematic.”

“Schematic? What schematic? What did you find on Mars, Dr. T’Soni?” Hackett asked a bit impatiently.

“A blueprint for a weapon. One of unquantifiable destruction if my calculations are correct. The Protheans didn’t have time to build it; it’s a huge endeavor. We will need help.”

“Get the Council to listen, we need their fleets and their help in building this... weapon. Do what you need to do Shepard to see this thing through. We can’t win this fight using conventional means. Hackett out.”

When they exited the newly built Comm room Shepard slammed her hand down on the railing encircling a bank of terminals and holographic display devices.

Liara leaned next to her and said with just a hint of desperation in her voice, “This will work, Shepard. This device will help.”

Shepard hung her head and rocked back and forth.

“You don’t believe that, do you, Shepard?”

“I shouldn’t be here, Liara. I should be down there on Earth; fighting. Not running to the Council to beg them for help.”

“You’re needed up here, Shepard. There is no one else who could pull this off. No one else who may unite everyone and get this device built. It’s a chance, right? Something we didn’t have before and this might work. We have to try; don’t we?”

Shepard gripped the railing harder. “All right, get something together to present to the Council and let’s hope they’ll finally listen.”

“They must listen now that the Reapers are here.”

Shepard shook her head and looked up, her eyes shining knowing that the Council will act first in their own interests and to hell with the humans and non-Council people. “If they don’t, then it will be one hell of a short war.”

 

* * *

 

Vashlani was waiting for her just inside the loft where he stood staring at the complete disarray of the room. Cables and wires were everywhere, someone scattered piles of crates and containers on the floor and across the small shelf running behind the bed. From what he saw of the ship so far, it was a complete mess.

He glanced back over his shoulder when the door slid open. “What did those people do to our room? What did they do to the ship? All those Septims to fix it up before we headed to your Earth and look... just look at this mess.”

“I don’t know, Vashlani. EDI’s things are gone too.” She sighed as she walked over to the small armory closet and pulled off her armor and put it inside to be sent down for repairs. “We’re a few hours from the Citadel. Thanks for helping Kaidan, I know you don’t like him much.”

Vashlani moved in behind her and started to strip off his own armor before he reached for her shoulders and began to knead the knots there. He placed small kisses along her neck and shoulder as she leaned back against him with a sigh. “Vashlani can barely wait until we have enough time for a proper reunion, ahziss isha.”

She turned in his arms and smoothed her hands along his fur covered shoulders before cupping his jaw in her palm. “I can’t either, but I don’t know how long it will be before I return to the ship once we dock at the Citadel. I have to go see the Council, set up for deliveries and try to get more repairs made. I also must check in on Kaidan. These will be quick stops now, Vashlani. No long shore leaves anymore. If there are any, it will be a stop to take care of business and leave as fast as possible. At the most only staying overnight.”

He nuzzled her then gave her a quick kiss before he stepped from her arms. “Then the time we can spend together will be precious, but you must come to see Sophie soon. She needs to see her mama.”

He finished stripping off his armor and under armor and pulled a fresh set of pants and tunic from the pack. He sat down to put on his boots when the door opened and a human female walked into the room.

“Commander Shepard, I’m Specialist Samantha Traynor and I’m here to -“ She finally looked up hearing the loud, animalistic growls coming from the other end of the room. She started to scream as she backed up. The door to the room closed and locked.

“What the hell do you think you’re doing just walking into my quarters?” Shepard asked as she approached the still screaming woman, whose eyes had yet to look away from where Vashlani also approached with his teeth bared and his claws out. “Stop fucking screaming and answer me, Specialist!”

“The door was unlocked; green-lighted for open entry. I said my passphrase, and it slid open. I came to tell you about the changes we made to the ship so you would know your way around.” Her dark eyes were big as saucers as the strange alien drew closer.

“You just walked into our room because it was unlocked? Unacceptable,” Vashlani hissed.

“EDI, erase all the old passcodes. No one is allowed into this room without asking for entry except for myself and Vashlani.”

“Understood, Commander. Protocols have been updated and old codes erased. Had I known the Specialist would just walk in I would have secured the door.”

“It’s all right, EDI. Send everyone currently on board the same message about Vashlani and make sure all communications are filtered and blah, blah, blah. You know the drill.”

“Already sent, Shepard. Vashlani, Specialist Traynor knows the Normandy’s systems fairly well and has been part of the retrofit crew. She is actually a good person to have on board for her technical skills, so I ask that you do not disintegrate her, as a favor to me.”

Vashlani growled at the woman. “You are lucky EDI asked me to spare you, woman. If it wasn’t for her, being my trusted friend, you’d be nothing but a pile of ash at our feet.” He took several steps back and rolled his shoulders to try to relieve the tension there. The last crew had been a nightmare to work with at first and it looked like this one would be no better, he could only hope they found some of their old, trusted ones soon.

“You were saying something about the ship before you walked in on my husband and me.”

“Hus... Yes, yes about the changes. We retrofitted several rooms to bring the ship to Alliance regulations.” Traynor said as she shakily began to show Shepard the data pad and swipe the holos of the changes.

When Traynor finished going over the changes she hurried out of Shepard’s cabin and to the lift.

“I cannot believe what just happened. I know these are, once again, new people and not used to your ways, but to just enter your room?” Vashlani shook his head as he went back down to sit on the couch and finish getting ready.

“First time someone just walked right in. From what I could tell she’s more comfortable in a lab, not on a ship and it won’t happen again. In a way it was my fault, I became so used to having others lock the door to keep me in that I completely forgot to lock it behind me. She did not understand my open door policy when it was greenlit differs from most Captains. Let’s go check out the rest of the ship and see who’s on board, we’ll probably need to pick up more crew. From what I could tell, the only ones we have now just happened to be on here when the Reapers attacked and most of them had been working on either the retrofit or as guards.”

They started with the crew deck and a quick check on Kaidan, who was still unconscious in the med-bay. Liara sat next to him to help monitor him while she and EDI tried to make more sense of the schematics from the Archive.

They looked in the Main Battery and Vashlani whistled at the mess. “Garrus won’t like this at all, Shepard.”

Shepard frowned and nodded, a look of worry passed over her eyes and Vashlani gripped her shoulder. “We shall find him, mate. He has a medallion and can use it now. If he gets in too deep, he’ll call. Vashlani is sure of it.”

“I hope you’re right, Vashlani, because we sure could use him.”

They moved to the kitchen area of the mess and saw it was bare. They would have to restock everything on the Citadel and not just food. “It looks like the first stop on the Citadel will be longer than I had planned,” Shepard grumbled.

What used to be Miranda’s old room was empty except for a bed and many thick cables crisscrossing the floor. Kasumi’s old room was changed into an off duty room with couches, chairs, and a card table. The bar was still there, but there wasn’t any alcohol. “I can bring ales, mead, and some of my whiskey and wine. It will save on what you need to purchase on the Citadel. I’ll fetch vegetables, fruits, loaves of bread, and some meat from the College,” Vashlani told her as they opened the shutter over the window to look out at the stars.

“It’s hard to believe that beyond the beauty of these stars lurks a force of unimaginable power. We have lost how many people to them already?” Shepard wondered aloud. Vashlani breathed out a sigh before he enfolded her in his arms.

“They are powerful, but you have fought them before and could stop them, even if it was only temporarily. We just have to hope we can get a lot more help now.”

They stopped in the Life Support room and saw Thane’s cot still there propped up against the wall. For some reason, the Alliance had deemed it necessary to cover the window overlooking the drive core. The window had survived the damage caused to the Normandy when it wrecked into the Collector base and its subsequent escape back through the Omega-4 Relay and was fine. They wasted credits and resources to cover it up. Vashlani shook his head as they walked back out.

The talking in the crew quarters came to a sudden stop as Shepard and Vashlani entered the room. After they made quick introductions, Vashlani agreed to answer a few questions as he continued to look over the few crew members and Marines who were there before they left the room.

“None of those men were my guards from the original Normandy, will they be joining us?”

“I doubt it, Vashlani. Why?”

Vashlani looked at Shepard with a gleam in his eye. “Vashlani liked his guards... and they liked his jazbay crostadas.”

Her eyes narrowed. “And how did they come to like those sweets?”

Vashlani let out a chuckle. “Vashlani may have given them to his guards so he could sneak down to the cargo bay and use the fabricator when you were asleep.”

“You bribed your guards with food?”

He laughed and nodded. “They even helped me to carry all of it back to my room.”

“Why doesn’t it really surprise me? Let’s finish with the assessment of this deck and continue to the CIC deck.”

They found Samara’s room had changed little. As they stood in front of the lift to go down to the next deck Shepard ran her hand over the names of the crew members on a memorial wall and were lost on the old Normandy. Vashlani recognized most of the names on there and gave a sad purr, especially the two ensigns who worked on the bridge with Joker and Navigator Pressly. It had taken a while for Pressly to warm up to him, but after many hidden exchanges of sandwiches and fresh fruits, the man had come around.

When they stepped off the lift, the CIC deck quieted, and the people stopped moving. Traynor pressed herself back against the terminal where Kelly Chambers used to stand and he narrowed his eyes at the woman which caused her to swallow audibly.

“Vashlani is not a cat, he is not a household pet, and is a married khajiit so has no interest bedding you.”

“Whoa... What?” The woman stammered and Shepard cleared her throat.

“Vashlani, I don’t think the Specialist is anything like the Yeoman I had during the Collector mission. These are military personnel and except for a few incidents as they learn the way I run the ship to balance procedures, and the need to keep your existence hidden, things will be as they were on the SR-1.”

“Hmm. So they are like the original crew? Vashlani likes that, as long as they respect his privacy and treats Vashlani as a person and not an animal, then he will be happier.” He nodded to the ones on the deck and his whiskers twitched as he looked around. “I’m going up to the bridge to see Joker. I will join you to see the rest of the deck they practically destroyed in a few minutes.”

Shepard rubbed her forehead as she watched her husband work his way toward the bridge. “Specialist was there anything else I need to know before reaching the Citadel?”

“Not... not at the moment Commander. There is one thing I would like to say though, with your permission.”

“Go ahead.”

“I just wanted to thank you. My family lived in the Horizon colony. They were there when the Collectors attacked and were one of the few lucky ones you saved. They told me about the way you helped them and the others. How they could see and hear everything happening around them but couldn’t do anything. They mentioned someone touching them and a feeling of calmness just before they could move again. It was Vashlani wasn’t it? He did something to them, didn’t he?”

“Yes, all I can tell you is along with the salarian scientist I had with me, he found a way to remove the paralysis and keep us safe. You may want to convey thanks to Vashlani as well, it will help to smooth things with him Traynor, and he’s not as scary once you get to know him. Just remember to see him as a person and not let the way he resembles a cat to us overshadow that. His people get enough crap on his own world, he doesn’t need it here. Was there anything else?”

“No Commander, and thank you for the advice,” Traynor said before she turned back to her terminal.

 

* * *

 

“Hey Vash, have a seat,” Joker said as Vashlani approached the bridge.

“It is good to see you again Joker, though this khajiit wishes it was under better circumstances. It is good to be back on the Normandy, I’ve missed my friends and have so much to share with you about the things my cub and I did, and about the Dragonborn’s exploits over the last six months.”

“I’d like to hear it, maybe after we get to the Citadel. We’ll have a few days layover while we scramble to get more crew members and stock supplies. If they wouldn’t have kept ignoring Shepard this whole time, the Normandy wouldn’t be in this mess and we would have been better stocked. Six months wasted, not to mention the years they had before it.” Joker shook his head and adjusted his cap.

“They cannot ignore the situation now, Joker. This has proven ahziss isha to be correct and they should have listened. They will listen now.”

Joker snorted. “Don’t bet on it, Vash. Even with the Reapers here they will try to figure out a way to sacrifice us to help themselves. You’ve been with us since almost the beginning, you know what I’m talking about.”

Vashlani gave a rumbling purr and nodded. “EDI, ahziss isha said your decorations were lost? Joker said he removed them from the ship before they started to destroy it.”

“Yes Vashlani, the urns you brought back to me were on Earth along with the Dwemer plate.”

Vashlani shifted in his chair and stroked his chin while thinking. “Vashlani will make you something after we leave the Citadel. This khajiit doesn’t want this gift to fall into the wrong hands or be questioned, but Vashlani thinks you will like it.”

“Thank you, Vashlani.”

Vashlani smiled before glancing behind him at the nearly empty bridge and CIC deck before cupping his hands together. They glowed with the red of fire and Vashlani blew into them before slowly separating them and manipulating the flames between his palms. He breathed toward the flame again and it went out revealing a blood-red sculpture of an Ancient Dragon. “Here, this is for you and Joker for the bridge, I hope you like it.”

“Damn, Vash, that’s amazing. You’re a lot stronger now aren’t you?” Joker asked as he placed the large statue where EDI’s blue pawn image would pop up and locked it down with a tiny mass effect field.

“Yes, Vashlani used the last six months wisely. He trained very hard and learned many more spells. He taught his cub alchemy for emergencies. I am almost ready to take on Faralda’s destruction mastery test. I can do more powerful spells than what she does at the College, but she doesn’t need to know that. What she needs to know is if I can do the ones she tasks of me. Vashlani will be one step closer to being a Master Mage. When I go home to visit Sophie, I’ll gather up your potions and bring them with me, but for now, Vashlani will join ahziss isha in looking at the rest of this deck. I’ll see you later, Joker.”

Joker waved and as Vashlani walked down the three steps to the CIC portion of the deck Joker said over the comm, “Hey, Vash. Do you think you can bring me a bag of those honey and nut balls you make? And a snowberry dumpling? And a basket of honey mead?”

Vashlani laughed. “Anything else, Joker?”

“Some of that mammoth stew would be nice,” Joker added with snark in his voice.

Shepard raised her eyebrow as Vashlani walked toward her. “Joker’s already asking for food?” Vashlani nodded and turned toward Traynor when she hesitantly called his name.

“I just wanted to thank you. My parents were victims you saved on Horizon.”

Vashlani relaxed his stance and nodded. “Horizon was terrible. Vashlani is glad he could help the people there. Your parents are safe, yes?”

Traynor shrugged and looked down. “I don’t know. I haven’t been able to contact anyone on Horizon. It’s probably just initial interference or because the comm lines are being overloaded by people right now. I’ll keep trying though.”

He nodded and joined Shepard at the entrance to what used to be Mordin’s lab. When the door opened, and they stepped through he hissed as a light kept running over them. “What is this? What have they done to Mordin’s lab? He will not like this.”

“It-it’s a weapons scanner, uh... sir,” one soldier standing in a small alcove said.

“Vashlani doesn’t carry weapons. Why is this taking so long? By now, Vashlani could have jumped into the vents and bypassed this whole waste of time and Septims.”

Shepard shook her head and rubbed the small space between her brows. After several more minutes, the doors finally opened and Vashlani walked out still complaining. “This khajiit does not like what they have done to the Normandy, Shepard.”

They glanced into the glass-enclosed room Shepard said was the briefing room. They moved further along and stepped through a bulkhead door and looked around. This room was rather large and filled with terminals and a large hologram projector in the middle. “This is what they call the War Room, where the planning and mission reports will be taken care of. The small room off to the side is where a communications device is. It will let me talk to the Council and the Systems Alliance.”

“Commander? We’re coming up on the relay into the Widow system. Depending on traffic we will be there in two hours. I’ve already sent the emergency notice for a transport for Major Alenko,” Joker said.

“Acknowledged, Joker. Shepard out.”

“Come back to the cabin, ahziss isha, we have time for you to go see Sophie before we dock. EDI can let you know when we need to leave.”

“Alright, Vashlani. I want to see her too.”


	3. Chapter 3

* * *

 

 

Shepard stood in front of the Council once again to tell them she needed their help, that Earth was the first Council world hit by the Reapers and taking the most damage. They hemmed and hawed and told her while the Reapers attacked Earth they could secure their own borders.

“You just don’t get it, do you? They will pick us off one by one. No one will hold them off or stop them on their own. We need to band together and fight them as one.” Shepard could see that her words were once more falling on deaf ears. They would not listen.

Liara showed them the schematics, and the salarian said they wouldn’t be able to build something so large so quickly. Liara told him the Alliance already had a good amount of resources ready and they just needed the Council to approve the building of the Crucible. They said no. The turian councilor paused for a brief second to look at the schematic again before following his colleagues off the dais and out the room.

“I can’t believe…,” Liara started to say when Shepard just shook her head.

“I can. I have more things to see to. Why don’t you head back to the ship?” Shepard said as she turned and stomped down the steps toward the elevator.

“Yes. I have things to do as well.”

 

* * *

 

Vashlani sent a missive through the portal to the College detailing what they needed and what was happening in Shepard’s world. The Arch-Mage sent one back letting him know they were currently bringing up one freezer full of meat from the beasts the Dragonborn hunted. He had the kitchen doubling the amount of loaves of bread they made daily. It wouldn’t be much, but even two or three extra loaves would come in handy added to what Sophie made for them.

Sophie was stirring an enormous pot filled with mammoth stew while Vashlani was in his brewery stocking baskets of various alcoholic beverages. It burdened his travel bag to its limits by the time he finished gathering everything up. He sent a quick message to EDI asking if it was clear for him to bring the things back to the Normandy. She told him there were still non-Normandy crew members on board and to wait. As soon as they left, she’d let him know.

“Ahh, Sophie my darling cub, that smells wonderful. Joker will enjoy this very much.”

“I hope so, Papa. Have you or Mama found anyone from before they took Mama away?” Sophie asked as she started to ladle the stew into clean milk pails.

“Only Joker and EDI so far, Cub. Few people made it from your Mama’s home and the Normandy had very few people working on it when they Reapers attacked, but we are hoping to find more soon.”

The sphere rolled up with a basket in its hands and Vashlani reached in for the bundle of parchment. “Sophie, you have something from the College.”

Sophie’s ears reddened, and she grabbed the rolled-up parchment with a mumbled thank you and stuffed it into a small magical pouch she wore at her waist.

“Sophie? Is there something your Papa should know about?” Vashlani’s whiskers twitched.

“No, not really. I have a pen pal who sends messages to me through the College. Like Thane back with Mama... only not so old,” the young girl mumbled as she stirred the pot.

“I don’t think Thane would be happy with you thinking he’s so old.” Vashlani tried not to laugh.

“I know, but even Kolyat is older than me.”

“Your Papa and Mama are thirty- four years old or so, Sophie. Is that so ancient?”

“You and Mama are different. I’ll be right back Papa, the bread will be ready in a few minutes.” Sophie didn’t wait to hear his answer before she hurried from the kitchen.

Vashlani’s whiskers twitched, and he stroked his chin. Sophie was up to something and Vashlani’s curiosity started to get the better of him. He made a mental note to send a message through asking for details on the messages being sent to his daughter.

Several hours later Vashlani and Sophie had several bags and baskets piled into a handcart and stood waiting for the cooler to come through the portal. EDI had walked him through how to activate the portable mass effect fields built into them to help stop their momentum, and he would use telekinesis to move it out of the way. EDI told him Vega waited in the cargo hold and was scratching his head and muttering to himself about how could they get a shipment of food if the Normandy was in lock-down mode.

The portal lit up and Vashlani activated his omni tool. As soon as the heavy silver container came through, he tapped on the icon and a bluish-purple light sprung up from below the container and slowed it down. Sophie threw a pouch with a scroll tied to it she had ready back through the portal before it closed.

“Okay, Sophie. Are you sure we have everything?” Vashlani asked his daughter, and she pulled out his old datapad from her hip pouch and checked her list.

“Yes, everything except for the fresh fruits and vegetables. The Dragonborn sent a missive through J’Zargo and said the Companions were currently scouring the farms outside Whiterun. The bandit camps have yielded about ten bushels of apples and cabbages, another five bushels of leeks, four large baskets of various mushrooms, and several heavily laden baskets of herbs are being dried and readied by Iona and Jordis at the Dragonborn’s respective homes. Vilkas’ letter said the new seeds given to a select few farmers have already started to produce, and I quote, ‘abnormally large heads of cabbage and carrots the size of short swords. Damn work of mages.’ Derkeethus’ letter said his quiet interactions with the other argonians from Windhelm have led them to help... uh, procure an abundance of fish. They’ll send us a notice when all of it is on the way by wagon. Farkas, Derkeethus, and someone named Teldryn Sero has already volunteered to guard it.”

“Teldryn Sero? If the Dragonborn and the Companions trust him then so can we. I shall find out who he is when the wagon arrives at the College.”

Sophie slipped the datapad back into her pouch and adjusted her cloak. “I’m ready Papa.”

Vashlani placed one hand on the handle of the cart and his other around the handle of the cooler. Sophie wrapped an arm around his and reached for the ring and slipped it from his finger.

Vega let out a yell and stumbled back against a stack of crates sending them crashing to the floor when the two of them appeared in the middle of the hold.

Sophie handed the ring back to Vashlani, and he quickly put it back on before he turned to Vega. “Vega, this is my daughter, Sophie. Sophie this is one of your Mama’s ground crew, James Vega. He will help me take all of this to where it belongs. Why don’t you take Joker’s basket to him on the bridge? He’ll make sure none of the new crew members bother you.” Vashlani bent to kiss his daughter’s cheek as she grabbed the handle of a large basket and smiled.

“It is good to see you again, Sophie,” EDI said as Sophie waited next to the lift.

“I’m glad to be here, EDI. Is the Healer here? What about Thane or Garrus?” Sophie asked as the lift doors opened. EDI’s reply cut off as the doors closed.

Vega was looking between the lift and Vashlani. “That’s your kid? With Shepard? But that girl is at least ten years old and well... human.”

Vashlani nodded as he activated the mass effect fields and Vega grabbed the handles of the handcart. “Sophie is my adopted daughter, her birth father died during the war back home. They left her to starve or die from the frigid conditions of her hometown. I found her and took her in, healed her, fed her, and she became my daughter. Most of the people in Skyrim couldn't care less about orphans, they feel they have enough worries already. Dragons and bandits, the civil war, and day to day struggles with their own children. But when Sophie stood there in the snow, nothing but thin rags for clothing and her frail body shaking from the cold and calling out to me to buy her flowers so she could get something to eat, it broke my heart that no one would help one of their own people; a child. My ahziss isha and our daughter are the two best things to have ever happened to me. This one likes to think the Divines intentionally made that stupid Breton read the spell wrong and sent Vashlani here.”

Vega didn’t say much as he thought about everything Vashlani had told him. When they used the cargo lift to reach the crew deck, he followed Vashlani out and toward the huge walk-in cooler. “What is all this stuff, anyway?”

“Meat mostly. Fresh bread and stew for the crew here today. We have more fruits and vegetables coming. The ones in those bags are some of what I had on hand. There’s also goat's milk, cheese, and eggs; all fresh. Several of the baskets contain alcohol from Vashlani’s private brewery. One of those crates has potions, healing salves, and an emergency supply of special scrolls.”

“Eggs? As in from chickens? Not from vats?” Vega’s eyes lit up as he hurried to put away the food and search for the eggs. “I love eggs. My abuela makes this one dish called huevos rancheros that’ll knock your socks off.” Vega kept telling Vashlani about his family and his aunt’s cooking while they put everything away. An hour later Sophie showed up in the mess and Vega helped her to understand the stove as she reheated the various stews for the crew beginning to filter back on the Normandy.

Sophie let out a squeal of “Healer” and jumped down from the step stool when she spotted Doctor Chakwas come around the corner. The Doc caught the young girl in a big hug before joining everyone at the tables. Vashlani brought a bowl of stew with some bread slices over and bent down to whisper the Arch-Mage sent his love and hopes she can come to visit with him soon. The Doc turned a fiery red and giggled before she nodded and whispered she could, as soon as she checked the ship's stores and placed a restock order.

Sophie stood at the stove stirring the stew in a large pot when her datapad pinged. She took it from her pouch and read it. “Papa! You need to tell Mama to go back to the hospital, Thane and Kolyat are there. Kolyat said they have been trying to contact Mama, but it keeps failing to deliver to her mailbox.”

Vashlani turned to look at his daughter with a raised eyebrow and a rapidly twitching tail.

“What? Kolyat always sends me letters like this.”

“Sophie, you and Papa will have to have a long talk about boys,” Vashlani said with a groan and Vega laughed. Vashlani typed out a message to Shepard only to have it returned.

“Hmm, it says her inbox is full and it can deliver no new messages. Joker? Can you use the comms to let ahziss isha know about Thane?”

“Sure can, she’s set her comm to private, so she’s probably in a meeting or something. But I’ll push it through as soon as I can,” Joker said and Vashlani turned toward Sophie only to see her smiling and rapidly typing something on her data pad.

Vashlani straightened his tunic and muttered about having to talk to Thane about his son.

Everyone looked up when an asari came around the corner followed by another drell as they pushed carts full of containers and headed past the mess hall and straight for the XO’s office.

“Papa? Who are they?” Sophie whispered and Vashlani told her about Liara. The other drell was Feron, and he worked for her.

Vashlani signaled the entry panel on the XO’s door and walked in after it opened. The same annoying drone popped up and Vashlani almost fried it with a spark.

“You brought that thing on board?” Vashlani growled and Feron laughed as he continued to uncrate monitors and attach them to the bulkhead of the ship.

“Glyph is necessary for smoothly running the network since Feron won’t be here,” Liara said as she laid more cables across the floor and began to hook them into a large bank of terminals and data storage units. Vashlani blinked and saw Feron hesitate before he ran cabling from a terminal to a bank of storage drives.

“Has Shepard spoken to the Council? How much help are they giving her to fight this war?” Vashlani asked as he side-stepped out of Feron’s way as the drell pushed another large terminal into place.

“She has, and the answer is none. They don’t care about Earth and they don’t want to waste their resources in defending it. Instead, they decided to try protecting their own borders themselves. And they’ll fail. Shepard has to figure out a way to get what she needs and they aren’t making it easy for her.” Liara tapped a few buttons and brought her system online and synced it to the Normandy.

Vashlani let out a growl. “That is wrong.” The other occupants of the room nodded as he sighed. “My cub has made food, it is available for everyone in the mess. Be sure to stop by, she hasn’t met either of you yet.”

Vashlani went back to the mess hall just in time to see Sophie straighten her dress, then pat the braids along the side of her head before she picked up a different basket. He watched as she carried it to a table where Thane and Kolyat now sat. Vashlani’s whiskers flicked faster, and his tail swished from side to side as his eyes narrowed while he watched his daughter smile at the blue drell, and place fresh fruits, and bread on their plates, and ladle a different stew in their bowls. Vashlani sniffed. Fish stew... when had his cub had time to make that?

Thane’s eyes flicked from watching the banter between Kolyat and Sophie to Vashlani. He noted the way the khajiit stared and clenched his hands. Those blue eyes of Vashlani’s glowed brightly and his tail swung so fast that if it hit someone, it would probably knock them over. Thane cleared his throat and a very low buzz came from him. Kolyat’s grin wavered just slightly as he listened to Sophie tell him of the sabrecat which someone spotted near the iron mine just south of the College.

“Sophie, it has been lovely to see you again, but I believe your father wishes to speak to you. Perhaps we can visit later?” Thane said smoothly before Sophie could say anything more. She nodded and grinned before heading back to help Vega serve several more crewmen. Vashlani bent to kiss her on top of the head before he turned back toward the drell’s table. Vashlani’s ears rotated, and the earrings caught the light and gleamed as Kolyat glanced over at him then quickly back down to his bowl and began eating.

Shepard tiredly stepped off the lift and walked toward the mess hall. She heard the clattering of dishware and smelled one of Vashlani’s stews, her stomach grumbled and she remembered she hadn’t eaten since early that morning. “Mama!” Shepard smiled as she heard her daughter call out just seconds before two spindly arms wrapped themselves around her waist.

“Hello, sweetheart.” Shepard dropped a kiss on Sophie’s head before she stroked the young girl’s hair.

“You look so tired, Mama. Come, sit down and I’ll bring you something to eat. Thane and Kolyat are here and so are two other people. One of them is one of those blue women, like Samara.”

Shepard grinned. “You mean an asari? That’s probably Liara.”

Sophie thought for a second then nodded. “Yes, that’s what Papa called her. Her friend is another drell like Thane and Kolyat, his name is Feron. He’s in the med bay with Papa right now. When Papa heard that Feron would be out there alone with only a small crew to help gather things, Papa told him to wait for him inside with Healer. Papa went back home and gathered more potions and stuff for him,” Sophie told her more of what happened while Shepard ate.

Shepard finished eating just as Feron and Vashlani came out of the med bay. Feron was carrying a small crate stuffed with several flour sacks. His eyes were blown wide open, and he stumbled just slightly as he rapidly blinked. Shepard frowned and stood up. She hurried over to them and asked in a whisper what was wrong with Feron.

“Nothing’s wrong, Commander. I... I saw his home... your home,” Feron whispered back and Shepard noticed a flash of light reflecting off of a thin band around Feron’s pinkie.

“Vashlani? Are you sure about this?”

“I am ahziss isha. I trust him and he is under the binding. Not even Liara will get the information from him. He will be alone out there, and Liara’s callousness at sending him into that kind of danger angered me. As long as the ring remains on his finger and there is enough breath in his lungs so he can whisper the incantation, I can reach him and keep him safe. Though, he knows not to wait until the very last second. He also has one emergency portal scroll like you and Ashley used in case it is a dire emergency.”

Shepard sighed and watched as Feron got himself back under control and nodded. “I won’t betray his trust, and now I don’t feel like she gave me a death sentence. The three crew members who will be with me are only loyal to the Shadow Broker and no one else. They’re loyal only as long as the credits keep rolling in, they would bail and leave me to rot if we got into trouble.”

Shepard’s jaw clenched as her eyes hardened. “All right. Use it if you need it. EDI has communications set up in our home and Sophie will be there. She will help you as best she can. We are putting our child’s life on the line here, Feron. If you use the items you make damn sure no one or nothing enters with you.”

Feron nodded and swallowed, Vashlani told him of the consequences should something be let loose in the realm.

“Healer is spending time with the Arch-Mage. I will bring her back in the morning before we launch.” Vashlani said to Shepard before he nuzzled her and guided Feron over to Sophie where he bent down and whispered into her ear about Feron.

 

* * *

 

Shepard and Vashlani were getting Sophie settled into her bed when EDI alerted them to trouble. The Reapers had broken through the meager turian blockade. They were attacking Palaven, and the turians had sent a distress signal. EDI had already sent out the emergency recall notice and the crew, both old and new, were racing back now and all had received the message about confidentiality concerning Vashlani.

“We have to go now. Sophie, I’ll see you as soon as I can. Love you.” Shepard leaned down and brushed a kiss on her daughter’s forehead before she stood. “Vashlani, we need Doc back. I hate to interrupt their time together but….”

Vashlani placed a hand on Shepard’s shoulder and squeezed as they headed out the tower room door and ran down the stairs to the portal room.

 

* * *

 

The Normandy launched less than an hour later, after a rather rough start with the new members of the ship crew concerning Vashlani, and one rather toasted crew member who didn’t seem to want to listen when Shepard gave the order for Vashlani’s presence to be kept secret. Shepard stood in the medical bay and gave the brand-new Private a lesson on who the Captain of the Normandy was and her word was law. She saw him start to shake as she reiterated that not only was he now subjected to imprisonment and court-martial, but as a Spectre she could save them time and just shoot him out the airlock.

Vashlani came into the med bay a few moments later. “That will not be necessary, Shepard. He will be in with Healer for a while and after we help the turians, the Arch-Mage and Tolfdir offered their assistance in removing the problem. Tolfdir is a master at illusion spells and will wipe the memory from him, then you can put him ashore on the Citadel or wherever you want to leave him. He will have no memory of ever being on the Normandy, let alone of myself and others.”

“Normally, I would accept the offer, Vashlani, but he’s a raw recruit. He hadn’t even gone through basic training yet. I don’t know why they assigned him to the Normandy as his first assignment. His posting is in the Alliance records. He’ll either have to stay on board or listed as MIA or dead. I can’t dump him off with the Reapers running everywhere.”

Vashlani let out a purring hum and rubbed his jaw. “This khajiit can take him to Skyrim and drop him off in the frozen northern wild lands. Either the cold would kill him or one of the large cats would. Then there are the packs of snow wolves and bandits roaming around, any of them would get rid of this problem. On the other hand, ahziss isha, this one could just finish roasting him.” He held up his hand, and it wreathed itself in flames.

The young man’s eyes flicked back and forth then started to roll back in his head as he realized just how much trouble he was in.

Shepard shook her head. “I’ve already put in to have him reassigned and requested no new recruits join us. We must keep him here until we return to the Citadel, then we can put him ashore.”

Vashlani muttered he’d have to have more ingredients to prepare the sealing spell on these new people and wandered off to their cabin.

 

* * *

 

Shepard and Vashlani were in the loft putting on their armor when the two-hour call from Joker let them know they were getting close to Palaven, the warning also came with a message from the turian councilor. He requested an immediate comm call.

Shepard sighed and grabbed her helmet before running from the room. Vashlani shook his head. “EDI, has there been any messages from Garrus?”

“Nothing yet, Vashlani. The Reapers took out the local comm buoys, he wouldn’t have been able to send a message because of it.”

Vashlani gave a worried purr then picked up his helmet and started for the door.

 

* * *

 

“Commander, I just received the news about Palaven. The people are scared and we are trying our best to calm them,” Sparatus said over the comm. Shepard grimaced at him, if only they would have listened and began preparations. Or at least warned the people of possible invasion. Instead, they brushed it off as a delusion and now millions and millions of people were dying.

“I don’t mean to be blunt, Councilor, but what is it you want? We are already on the way to Palaven as it is.”

Sparatus stared at her for a moment. “I couldn’t give you the troops you asked for or the help to save your world, but I know who can. There is a base on Menae, Palaven’s moon, go there and get Primarch Fedorian. The Primarch is the one who tells the Hierarchy where to send the troops. He can get support for you. Find him and get him to the Summit the council races called. He can speak there and a thankful Primarch will go a long way to gaining you all the turian help you’ll need.”

Shepard sucked her teeth and grimaced. “Political bullshit at a time like this?”

Sparatus tipped his head, “It’s the way the system works, Shepard. You don’t have to like it, but if you want the help, you’ll have to play the game.”

“The fucking Reapers aren’t a game, Councilor.” She barely heard his hum of “I know” before she cut the connection.

“Vega, Vashlani, and Thane report to the shuttle bay in 30.”


	4. Chapter 4

* * *

 

Shepard met her new shuttle pilot, Steve Cortez, while she waited for Vashlani to appear. Vega made a few last adjustments to his shotgun mods and as usual, Thane stood quietly, unmoving in the shuttle's shadow and just watched.

Vashlani strode from the lift toward the small group with one staff crackling lightning on his back and another wreathed in flames in his hand. Steve took several steps back as he got nearer. Shepard grinned at the pilot’s reaction, and the way he didn’t yell or shake, just made room. A satchel went flying toward Thane who caught it deftly and tied it to his upper thigh before letting the leather coat settle back into place.

“Sophie made the healing potions. She wanted me to tell you to be careful, and she expects a letter from her ‘Uncle Thane’ when you get back.”

Thane’s lips twitched, and he tipped his head toward Vashlani before ducking into the open shuttle.

“Uncle Thane? When did that happen?” Shepard asked as she put her helmet on and followed Vega into the shuttle.

“I don’t know. But I’m monitoring that son of his and our daughter.” Vashlani adjusted his own helmet and checked the sync before he darkened the faceplate so they could only see his softly glowing eyes.

Steve was the last one on board and made flight preparations as Shepard went over the information the councilor had given her. She sat on the bench when the warning came from Steve that they were a go for launch.

Reaper and turian ships alike filled the airspace around Palaven and Menae. As they drew closer to the moon, they looked through the viewing window at the way Palaven glowed with eerie orange light. Shepard knew the planet burned; just like Earth. More and more ships were exploding and Steve told them he was picking up comm traffic from the turian base. Reaper troops were on the moon and they desperately needed help. “The landing zone is hot, Commander. You must clear some of those Reaper troops if you want me to land.”

“Copy that Cortez. Vashlani? Prepare a little spell for them and when you’re ready let us know. Thane, you get ready to open the door and Vega, you and I will mop up what doesn’t disintegrate.”

Vashlani slipped his staff into his hip pouch and stood in front of the shuttle door. He took a glance out the window at what they would face and began a flowing movement with both his arms, his purring voice making unintelligible sounds until his hands began to crackle and spark with the purple-blue energy of lightning, the glow from them became brighter and he gritted his teeth before he hissed, “Now, Thane.”

Thane hit the control panel and backed away from the door as he pulled out his SMG to help the others. He blinked rapidly as pure-white streams of lightning left Vashlani’s fingers and sprayed electrical death along the ground and cliffs as Cortez flew the shuttle into the landing zone. By the time the shuttle landed, the area was clear and Vashlani dropped to his knees as the last of the spell fizzled out.

Vega reached down and helped Vashlani back up, “Hey buddy, are you all right?”

“Khajiit is fine. The more powerful the spell the faster it drains my magic pool. It makes me a bit weak for a moment. I just need a potion. I can take it while we move, these turians need help, yes,” Vashlani said as he reached into his small pouch and drew out a tube with a swirling blue liquid inside and dumped it into his intake port.

They moved quickly toward a lone turian at a guard post and after Shepard received directions to where the turian base was, Vashlani pulled out his dragon claw staff and followed the group. As they drew nearer, they heard shouting and gunfire and picked up their speed. They dropped several husks while running toward the base and once they cleared the area; the turians opened the gate for them.

Vashlani started to dawdle as the others ran toward one of the portable buildings where several turians stood looking at a holo-table. Shepard stood talking to one of them then suddenly realized Vashlani wasn’t standing next to her.

“Shit... where’s Vashlani? Wasn’t anyone watching him? Spread out and find him,” she said as Vega looked at her and scratched his head. Thane didn’t hesitate but jumped over the barrier and started to run back toward where they had come from.

Shepard opened her comm unit as she ran down the ramp, “Vashlani, whatever you just picked up you better put it back down before I find you.”

“Vashlani doesn’t know what his ahziss isha is talking about. Vashlani is just taking in the sights and minding his own business.”

A very soft hum sound came over the comms before Thane said, “Does taking in the sights include those mods and data pads I just saw you pick up and drop into your backpack?”

“You must have been mistaken Thane, Vashlani doesn’t see any mods lying around for him to pick up.”

“Vashlani!” Shepard yelled over the comm unit as she found them and sure enough, she saw him dropping something that looked suspiciously like a rifle scope into his pack before putting it back on. “I saw that. Put it back.”

Vashlani drew off his pack and held it open, Vega looked inside and saw nothing. “There’s nothing in there, Commander.”

“See, Thane and Shepard are imagining things,” Vashlani purred as he put his pack back on. “See how Vashlani gets yelled at, Vega? You saw for yourself, Vashlani hasn’t picked up anything and put it in his pack.”

Thane started chuckling as Vega scratched his head again and turned to Shepard with a shrug. Vega started to say something else when the turian in charge of the base called for Shepard to return to the command center. When she arrived back General Corinthus told her he still could not contact command to get the name of the new Primarch since Fedorian had died right before the Normandy arrived. He told her they had been having issues with keeping the tower clear and asked for her help.

The crew ran for the opposite end of the base and went through the now open gate. When they were halfway to the tower they ran across several injured turians who told them they were the repair crew for the tower and husks were overrunning the area. Shepard and the others hurried forward and saw the damaged tower, they also saw all the husks coming at them.

Several lightning bolts flew past, but the husks were spread out and coming from all sides.

Vashlani slid his staff into the holder on his back then called over the comms to keep the enemy's attention on them while he prepared the next spell. The three of them moved closer and opened fire with everything they had. A few seconds later a flaming horse ran past them and charged the husks setting them all ablaze as it left a wall of fire on the ground where it ran. The horse kept circling the husks, drawing the ring of fire ever smaller and attacking with its front legs as the Reaper troops burned into a fine ash.

Shepard and Thane stood up to get a better view as Vashlani directed the horse to trample and scatter the ash before it ran past an outcropping of rocks and disappeared in a huge ball of flame and smoke.

“Vashlani? What the hell was that?” Shepard asked.

Vashlani’s whiskers twitched as he rapidly tried to come up with something to tell her. He couldn’t just come out and say he snooped in the catacombs and found the Arch-Mage’s private library and helped himself to the books after dismantling the protective spells on the room.

“Vashlani was wandering around the College one afternoon while waiting for his ahziss isha to contact him and found himself down in an unused area of the keep. Thick cobwebs covered the hallways and there were no signs of anyone being there for a very, very long time. Vashlani just happened to push on a door and it opened. Inside was a vast amount of shelves all filled with large, dust-covered tomes of magic. Well, Vashlani didn’t know if the Arch-Mage knew about the room so he set about cataloging the tomes just in case. I went home to our darling cub and when I opened my pack, there were all these tomes just piled up inside. He does not understand how that happened, and when Vashlani checked the list he had made, the books weren’t on there. They just appeared in my pack... like magic.”

Shepard snorted and shook her head. Thane changed his heatsink, and Vega paused with a strange look on his face when Vashlani mentioned the pack.

“And just how many of these books just happened to show up?” Shepard asked.

“Hmm... Vashlani doesn’t exactly remember; he stopped counting at twenty.”

Shepard stopped walking and turned to look at him. “Did the list ever make it to the Arch-Mage?”

“My dear, darling, ahziss isha, what list are you referring to?” Vashlani adjusted his pack and twitched his cape back into place as a light rumble came from Thane and Shepard made a tch sound.

When they reached the tower Thane started up the ladder as Shepard and Vega held off another wave of husks. Shepard glanced over her shoulder when no spells flew overhead to see Vashlani jamming a bunch of stuff into his pack while shooting out a white light from his palm at any husks trying to flank her. She let out a loud sigh as she knew it was hopeless to tell him to stop picking up stuff which the turians left lying around.

Thane hurried back down the ladder after using his omni tool to fabricate the replacement parts the comm tower needed. When the group defeated the last of the husks, he input the startup sequence the repair team had given them earlier and the tower came online. Confirmation came from the General and they started back toward the base.

They were halfway back when Joker’s panicked voice cut across their comms. “Commander! There’s something wrong with the Normandy. Something is going on with EDI. The weapon systems keep coming online and the lights are going haywire. There are reports of fires and the automated systems keep turning on and off. I need help up here.”

“Copy that Joker. Vega’s on the way, hang tight.” Shepard said as she nodded to Vega who began to run back toward the base and the shuttle.

When the others arrived back, the General told them they were still waiting for Command to get back with the name of the new Primarch, since so many turians were dead they were having a hard time sorting out the line of succession in their meritocracy.

“Then what the hell am I supposed to do? I need the Primarch for the Summit and I don’t care who it is. The longer I stand here the more people die,” Shepard growled her voice heavy with the frustration at the wait.

“Don’t worry, Shepard. We’ll find you the Primarch.”

Shepard and the others whirled around. They saw Garrus striding their way and up the ramp into the command center. He looked exhausted and sounded that way as well, yet still carried himself with the same cocky attitude he had since they met. Quick handshakes and a hidden fortify stamina spell cast on him to ease his tiredness and Garrus assured them when he heard the General finally give the name, General Adrian Victus, he knew just where to find him. Before they could leave, however, a Reaper Harvester flew overhead toward the airfield.

They were running toward the field when Shepard told him Vashlani had learned a few new spells and they were something else.

Garrus chuckled and thanked the khajiit because he felt better once he shook his hand and knew Vashlani cast something to help him. Vashlani didn’t have time to do much more than saying ‘you’re welcome’ as Reapers resembling turians charged at them.

“Do you have anything else, Vashlani?” Shepard yelled over the comm as husks soon joined those turian marauders.

“Yes, but I haven’t tested it as it’s from the School of Alteration and I’m no expert in it. Here it goes.” Vashlani muttered his incantation and pushed his palms together then drew them apart. Suddenly the Reapers began to shrink while Shepard’s group grew in size. The husks fell too far fewer shots while their group hardly took any damage at all.

Shepard started laughing as the group looked to be a size to rival elcor. “Holy shit, this is hilarious as hell but useful; as long as we aren’t in a tiny room together.” The group shrank back to normal as they looked around for anything still usable after Garrus had assured them it was alright to take it. Garrus started to say something to Vashlani when static came over their comms and the voice of General Corinthus told them they needed to hurry back. Reaper troops were attacking the outer wall, and they had to hold the base.

They cleared the wall and Shepard took over the mini-cannon while the others shot at any husks which came near. Because they were inside the base where others could see Vashlani casting magic, he had to take precautions. He kept up a constant healing on everyone around him. Several times black swarms of insects surrounded the husks and caused them to become distracted and several fell, only for Shepard’s group to watch those insects swarm to another husk. Then there were the spiders. A green mist swirled around several of the husks. A few seconds after one of them shot and killed the husk masses of spiders burst from inside them to attack the closest husk or marauder.

“Vashlani, that spider spell is disgusting; thank the Spirits that Tali isn’t here,” Garrus said over the sound of gunfire.

A husk found its way past them and Shepard let out a grunt as it started to pound on her. Vashlani turned and quickly cast something that turned the surrounding air bitterly cold. The frost and bitter cold affected the husk. It slowed its movements as it froze then shattered when Vashlani hit it with a snowball.

Shepard let go of the mini-cannon since no husks remained. She turned toward the group when something hit the wall with enough force to throw her off balance and she fell backward and landed with an oof.

An enormous reaper-modified creature bellowed before charging her. She rolled until she ended up behind a boulder. “We have modified krogan on the field.”

Garrus and Thane leaped down from the wall and found cover behind more boulders as another brute came charging for them. Vashlani stood on top of the wall and began chanting. Right after the group on the ground defeated one brute, a huge ball of crackling lightning burned clear through the second, slamming it into the wall of rock behind it; creating a huge crater on impact. They watched as the brute disintegrated into a pile of ash.

They turned to look up at Vashlani just in time to see him fall from the top of the wall.

“Vashlani!” Shepard yelled as they ran toward him.

“He’s alive, Shepard; he’s just unconscious,” Garrus said as they tried to shake him to wake him up.

“Sophie? Sophie, it’s Uncle Thane. We need your help. Your papa is unconscious, he used a large spell then just fell over. What do we do?” Shepard looked up as Thane held out his arm with the omni tool’s holo screen filled with the panicky face of her daughter.

“There... he wears a small pouch tied to his waist. Not the portal home bag, but a blue-colored one. Papa keeps various potions inside of it. Say the words, ‘Vieni da me; pozione magica’ and a blue potion should appear in the bag. Make him drink it all.” They could see the way the girl’s hands were shaking because the datapad kept jittering about.

Thane knelt down and removed the bag; once opened he repeated the phrase and a blue tube appeared inside the once empty bag. Shepard opened the intake port to Vashlani’s helmet as Thane carefully poured the potion inside. Once the blue glow began to swirl around Vashlani, they started to relax; once they heard a groan, they breathed a sigh of relief.

“Did Vashlani do it? Did he pull off the supercharge?”

“Supercharge? You mean the giant ball of lightning that not only disintegrated the brute but half the rock wall behind it too?” Garrus asked as he chuckled and moved to the side so Vashlani could see the huge crater in the mountain's side.

“Yeah, I think it’s safe to say you pulled it off.” Garrus laughed and helped Vashlani to stand.

“Papa? Papa are you alright?” Sophie asked as Thane held out his arm so she could see Vashlani.

“Your papa is fine. Just took more out of me than I thought it would. I may need to change the spell or remember not to use that one if my mana pool is already getting low. Do not worry, my darling cub,” Vashlani said to her as he tied the blue pouch back on a thin cable running around his armor. “Return to your studies, Sophie, and Papa will see you soon.”

The others told her goodbye and Vashlani and Shepard gave her their love before Thane disconnected the call. They looked up to see several turians looking down at them and pointing to the crater.

“Uh oh,” Shepard muttered.

Garrus looked up and told them to forget ever seeing what made that crater. To the other's surprise, they all saluted him and left the wall. “Now let’s go find Primarch Victus.”

They fought through several reaper ambushes, helped a few turians that needed medical care, and watched as a giant Reaper landed on the moon and began to destroy an entire area. Garrus pointed to a huge glowing orange spot on Palaven and told them it was where his home used to be; right in the middle of it. They spent a few seconds looking at it then continued on. The sound of gunfire and shouts drew their attention as they approached another base.

“Hurry, that’s where the Primarch is,” Garrus said and they started to rush toward the gate. They heard someone yell that backup was there as the four of them ran through the opening and saw brutes and husks overrunning the area.

The group scattered and ran for whatever cover they could find.

“Vashlani! I hope you still have something up your sleeves; we need a huge one,” Garrus yelled out.

Two seconds later they saw Vashlani running straight for the mass of brutes and husks and they started yelling.

“Vashlani, what the fuck are you doing?” Shepard yelled and started to run for him until he yelled for everyone to stay back.

As soon as the reaper troops turned their attention to him Vashlani raised his hands to the air then slammed them to the ground as he dropped on one knee. The air crackled and thick bolts of purple and blue lightning lit the sky and struck each of the reapers with enough force to leave holes in the ground and blow rocks into dust.

“Spirits... where the hell did he learn that one?” Garrus said over the comms as they mopped up whatever enemy didn’t disintegrate from the electrical strikes.

“Apparently he just stumbled over some books and for some unknown reason they ended up in his pack,” Shepard said with a sarcastic tone to her words. They heard Garrus snort with suppressed laughter before they straightened up and watched as a turian in black and red armor approach.

They were too busy trying to get Victus to leave Menae to pay much attention to Vashlani; who just happened to stoop slowly down and grab a hunk of moon rock beside his foot and inch his hand toward the portal bag. He had just stood up when they turned back to him and told them it was time to head back to the Normandy and see what the emergency had been about then head to the Summit; she had a war council to get to.  


	5. Chapter 5

* * *

 

 

Primarch Victus stared at the stranger sitting between his Advisor and Commander Shepard. He knew the person was behind all those strange bolts of energy that destroyed the reaper troops. Who was he and how did he do it? Was it some sort of new Alliance weapon? He had the feeling Vakarian knew more than what he was saying, but no matter how many times he questioned him Garrus would tell him nothing.

When they arrived back on the Normandy, the lights were going haywire and the fire alarm still sounded. Shepard took off for the AI core where Joker told her all the problems seemed to originate from. Garrus told the Primarch he would show him to his quarters. Before they left Vashlani warned Garrus about what the Alliance had done to the Main Battery and it caused Garrus’ mandibles to flare out then pull tight. He already saw some changes they made.

Shepard raced through the med bay and stood outside the door of the AI core. Several marines were there as was Engineer Adams holding the fire suppression canister. She nodded and one marine hit the access panel and Adams started spraying the foam everywhere in the core as soon as the door slid open. Seconds later they saw an orange glow and movement. The mech body they had taken from the Mars base stepped forward and EDI spoke to them.

 

* * *

 

Vashlani hummed to himself as he crawled through the vent shaft between the crew deck and the CIC deck. When he reached the room assigned to the Primarch, he peeked through the vent opening and saw the turian hanging up several fabricated suits Garrus had brought him in his closet. Vashlani reached into his pouch and brought out a handheld brazier, a tiny vial of red liquid, and a small packet of ingredients. A whispered word created a small spark, and the liquid began boiling. The herbs began to release their fragrance into the air and Vashlani fanned the tiny stream of scented smoke into the Primarch’s room as he chanted the same spells he used on the previous crew. Once the Primarch was off the ship, he wouldn’t remember anything about Vashlani except that he and Shepard were married and helped in the war effort. He would only remember the quarian helmet and glowing eyes, no description past that and no recollection of any strange phenomena on Menae or the ship.

When he was certain the spell smoke had reached the Primarch, he smothered the concoction and quietly made his way through the vents until he reached Thane’s room. “Thane? Vashlani asks for entrance to your room.”

“Come down from the shaft, Vashlani.”

The khajiit poked his head out of the shaft then maneuvered around until he could drop into the room.

“May I ask why you are using the ventilation shafts to move around the ship?”

Vashlani took the offered chair and faced Thane. “I had spell work to do to assure my continued safety. Do you know what caused the problems earlier?”

Thane’s lips twitched slightly as he linked his fingers together. “Apparently EDI decided she wanted a mobile platform and tried to take over the mech body that you brought back from Mars. It apparently was still active and fought back. EDI won and with Shepard’s permission is now part of the ground crew. Needless to say, Joker is quite happy with the new addition to the bridge.”

Vashlani’s whiskers moved as he grinned at Thane. “I do not doubt that. You have been to see Healer? Is there any sign of your disease returning?”

“She informed me there are no signs currently and reminded me to stay out of the humidity as a precaution. Has there been any news from Mordin?”

Vashlani shook his head, “This one hasn’t heard from him and he didn’t return my messages.”

Thane hummed and Vashlani tapped the tabletop with one clawed finger. “About your son. He and my daughter seemed to have struck up a relationship. And what is this about you being her Uncle?”

Thane eyebrow ridge raised slightly, “Ahh, yes about that. Kolyat and Sophie have been communicating for a while now, although from my understanding it is not a relationship that will go past a deep friendship. He knows humans come of age at a different time than we do. He has been legally an adult in my society for a few years now while they still consider Sophie a child in yours and Shepards. They enjoy sharing stories and he appreciates all the extraordinary memories she provides through the vids she sends of your world.” He chuckled and leaned back in his chair slightly, “As far as my being her honorary Uncle... she feels her parents trusted and loyal friends are like family to her. She seemed excited and happy at having an extended family.”

Vashlani continued to stare at Thane with slightly glowing eyes before he let out a sigh and nodded. “The College is expecting a shipment coming from the Dragonborn soon, Derkeethus is guarding it. If you’d like I could bring you with me. I will need more help as it is a large caravan of wagons and I am unfamiliar with one guard assigned to it.”

Thane nodded and shifted back to rest his chin on his folded hands as he stared at the metal covering the window overlooking the drive core.

“What do you see when you look at the wall?”

Thane blinked and brought his gaze back to Vashlani. “I used to see a soothing light, the pulses steady and relaxing as I entered my meditative state. Now I see a piece of metal.”

Vashlani snorted and stood up. He moved the chair out of the way and motioned for Thane to move to the other side of the small room. Vashlani shoved the small table back toward the cot before he turned toward the sheet of metal. He ran his furry hands over the surface and muttered for a moment before he took a few steps back and closed his eyes. Warmth spread down his hands and flowed out toward the wall as he began several intricate movements using his arms and breath. First, the sparkles and steam he breathed out were red, then a moment later they changed to white, and the room became cooler. The chanting continued then he breathed out more glittering breaths in various shades of green and blue. His hands stilled their movements as a golden light appeared and he carefully blew it toward the wall hidden behind a multitude of glowing colors. When the glowing sphere of light was absorbed into the mass of colors, he made a sweeping motion with one hand and the shimmering colors disappeared leaving behind a scene etched onto the metal.

Thane took several steps closer to examine the wall. It was now a landscape of a desert with brightly colored tents scattered around an oasis of trees and clear blue water. He could see small figures sitting outside the tents or hanging fabrics on lines stretched between the trees. He blinked when the water sparkled. His hand hovered over the area and it felt cool there. The trees moved and he could have sworn a breeze blew across the palm of his hand.

“Vashlani, this is amazing,” Thane said as he moved his hand over the magical etching again and felt the dry heat of the air surrounding the oasis as the sun shone on his scales.

“I am glad you like it, Thane. My ahziss isha told me you had always wanted to see a desert. As the magic settles into the wall the scene will come to life, it will change at night and I hope you like that one as well. This particular scene was one I saw as a drawing in a book about my people. The northern region of Elsweyr is a desert while the southern area is a thick, humid rain forest. Vashlani has been practicing and has made quite a few Septims selling some of his work. He is hoping to find a worthy apprentice one day to pass on Creation magic to. This mage hopes the magic and wonder that comes from it is never lost or forgotten again.”

“I can see why, Vashlani. I struggle to believe that the mages would give up something like this, to begin with.”

Vashlani hummed and told Thane he had more things he needed to do before retiring for the night. Thane turned and bowed to him before turning back toward the desert scene and catching glimpses of the khajiit nomads beginning to move.

Vashlani sauntered out of the life support room and headed toward the med bay.

“Vashlani?” EDI called over the ship’s speakers.

“Yes, EDI?”

“The creation you made for Thane just now... I would like to request one as well. When you have the time.”

Vashlani chuckled as he turned the corner to cross through the crew’s mess hall. “I was already planning on something for you, EDI. Though I may not get around to it until tomorrow. I have a few things to check up on today, then I would like to spend some time with my ahziss isha; I have missed her so much. And congratulations on your new body.”

“Thank you, Vashlani. My new mobile platform will come in handy. I can now join in the missions and be of greater assistance to Commander Shepard.”

“I am looking forward to you joining us, just keep in mind that I do not know what my electrical attacks would do to your body should it come in contact with them. I do not wish to cause it to explode, as what happens to the geth.”

“I shall remember and remain aware of your location.”

Vashlani opened the door to the med bay and greeted the doctor. She assured him that along with the medical supplies they purchased on the Citadel before their emergency launch, the potions and scrolls he provided gave her plenty of options to care for the crew. He purred when he saw she still had the tiny crystal flower he had made for her when they first met, along with the section of mammoth tusk he had brought to her almost a year ago. The stained glass lantern sat high on a shelf above the desk.

His eyebrow twitched when he noticed a few other objects that definitely came from his world but not from him.

Chakwas followed his line of vision and blushed. “Presents from Savos,” she told him while she grinned.

He left a few minutes later and whistled as he walked toward the main battery, Vega called out to him and asked when they could get more eggs. Vashlani paused for a moment and told him he only had two chickens. He watched as Vega frowned then gently put the treasured egg back in the cooler.

Vashlani pushed the entry chime to the Main Battery and waited for entrance. When the door slid open, he walked in and looked around at the mess. Garrus stood at the end of a metal walkway and had one panel off the gun already and several more torn off from the wall and propped against the railing.

“Garrus? I see you’re already hard at work, would it be better for me to come back at a later time?”

“Nope, nothing that I can’t handle while we talk. The Alliance really messed up everything with setting it to their basic configuration. They lost so much efficiency doing it I don’t see how they could destroy anything.” He pulled his head out from the gun’s maintenance area and quickly moved to one of the open wall panels.

“Thanks for whatever you did earlier. It was non-stop from the time we landed on Menae with the Primarch to talk to the troops until you and Shepard showed up. I wasn’t sure we would last much longer.”

“She was very anxious for you since none of us heard from you.” Vashlani looked at the scarring still visible on Garrus’ face, neck, and mandible before reaching into his pack and drawing out a small jar. “You are still badly scarred. Here is another jar of the salve, keep using it.”

“Yeah, about that. I was in the middle of getting fitted for new armor and had my tags packed into my kit bag with a few other things to keep them safe. I had no way to get to them and call you. As soon as the news hit about Earth, we scrambled to get the civilians moving to safety and the rest of us into battle. I barely had time to grab my bag at all. I thought we would head to help the humans, but they told us to secure the safety of the Primarch on Menae and hold Palaven. No matter how hard I argued with them about combining forces, no one would listen.”

Vashlani leaned against the wall. “From what I have learned no one would pay attention to ahziss isha either. She barely escaped to warn others, and the Council told her they couldn’t afford to send help. They were concentrating on securing their own borders while the Reapers concentrated on Earth. Then suddenly your planet gets attacked and they call her for help. Vashlani is thinking it would have been better to not have wasted human lives to save those council people.”

Garrus snorted and punched a few numbers into the control panel, “The new council would have been just the same, maybe even worse. The only thing we can do is hope Shepard can get this Summit meeting to work and get it through their skulls that we can’t win alone and have to work together.”

Vashlani grimaced as he continued to watch Garrus working. “This Primarch Victus, what do you know of him? Can I trust him?”

Garrus paused for a moment then looked back at Vashlani, “Victus has been known to play fast and loose with the rules. He gets things done, and he knows better than those politicians what’s at stake and how it is out here. As long as Shepard holds up her end of getting the help from the krogans then he will provide turian support. As far as trusted with knowledge of you. I’m not sure. I worked with him and found him honorable. He did his best to take care of the men under his command.”

Vashlani hummed. “I have already taken steps to ensure my safety once he is off this ship. I am more concerned with what he may let slip to the ones coming on board for this Summit. I dislike that the leaders of this thing insisted they meet onboard the Normandy.”

“I don’t like it either, Vashlani, but the Normandy is the only ship with stealth capabilities and the best chance of outrunning anything that might attack during the Summit. It also gives Shepard a bit of control and is a safer environment to hold the meeting. No one can tap into comms or slip assassins on the ship. It is a neutral territory for everyone involved.”

“Vashlani supposes you are right. Still, I dislike it,” Vashlani said as he turned to walk toward the door. “I will see you later, Garrus.”

Garrus already had his head back in his calibrations and mumbled a goodbye as he reached into the maintenance opening to try getting the guns back the way he liked them.

Vashlani met Shepard as he stepped off the lift on the CIC deck.

“Vashlani? What are you doing up here?” Shepard asked as she studied the galaxy map.

“I want to take a better look at the war room and the briefing room. Is everything all right, ahziss isha?”

“We’re on schedule for rendezvousing with the others for the summit in ten hours. I’ll need you to armor up before they come on board,” Shepard said as she turned back toward the map and studied the new information Traynor added.

Several minutes later, after once again complaining about the weapons scanner, Vashlani stood in the glass-enclosed room and ran his hands over the table then the three glass walls before taking out the huge ball of knotted twine from his pack and began to measure the room.

Shepard let out a weary sigh as she entered her cabin a few hours later. Vashlani was at one desk with several of his tomes opened and more scattered on the couch.

She collapsed on the bed with a groan before she sat up and started to remove her boots.

“Now will you tell me what is wrong, Shepard?” Vashlani asked as he turned toward her.

“I got a message from the asari councilor, they are refusing to attend the Summit. They said it wouldn’t work, trying to get the krogans to help the turians, so they gave up without even trying. On top of it when Wrex gets on here I have to keep him from pissing off the others, and from them pissing him off. Wrex is key to this working, without him promising krogan troops the war is over. We need them and I have a terrible feeling about this whole thing.”

Vashlani stood and moved to the bed, he knelt behind her and began to rub her shoulders while a deep purr began to fill the area. “Wrex is levelheaded, he knows what is at stake.”

“He may be levelheaded, Vashlani, but he will know he holds most of the cards here and will use that fact to his advantage.”

He hummed as he began to nuzzle her. She tipped her head to the side to give him better access and moaned as his hands cupped her breasts.

“I’m sorry to interrupt, Commander, but Specialist Traynor said she needed to speak to you urgently. She was rather insistent. Her biometric readings signified whatever she found caused her significant worry.”

Shepard sighed and stood up even as Vashlani groaned and dropped sideways on the bed. “Alright, thanks EDI, tell her I’ll be down in a minute.”

Shepard leaned over and rubbed between Vashlani’s ears before kissing him. She put her boots back on and tiredly walked to the cabin’s door.

Shepard came back an hour later and started to undress, Vashlani grinned and purred until he saw her reaching for her underarmor.

“Traynor thinks Grissom Academy is under attack. There was a distress signal sent out asking for help because the Reapers were heading their way. A turian evac transport responded, but she thought something was off with the signal so had EDI run an analysis on it and found it was a fake. She thinks Cerberus may be behind it since it was very similar to what EDI said they used to lure us onto the Collector ship. We’re heading there now.”

Vashlani grunted then rolled off the bed to reach for his own underarmor.

“While I was talking to her several messages came through. The first was from Kaidan, he’s awake and the doctors said he could have visitors. The second was from Miranda wanting to meet with me on the Citadel. So it looks like we will be rather busy before we can take a break.”

Vashlani nodded as he activated the seals on the chest piece of his armor before reaching for the cloak and tabard. “I need to check in with Sophie and the Arch-Mage when we get back. The caravan of wagons with the deliveries should arrive fairly soon from Whiterun, Windhelm, and Riften. The one from Solitude will take much longer.”

Shepard grabbed her own helmet before they headed for the cabin’s door. “With how fast the Reapers are advancing, the Citadel will be overrun with refugees soon. They will need all the supplies they can get.”


	6. Chapter 6

* * *

 

 

Shepard stood behind Cortez as he readied the shuttle. Joker informed them the Cerberus ships were thick around the Academy and a short radio burst from Kahlee Sanders, the director of the facility, told them Cerberus had control of the docking area but she could open the small cargo bay doors. Once Joker was ready, he would create a distraction and Cortez would fly the shuttle inside.

Steve dropped the shuttle out of the Normandy and hovered as Joker headed straight for the Cerberus ships and began using defensive maneuvers to out fly them. As soon as enough of the ships left the area to chase the Normandy, Steve went for the now open cargo bay of the station.

Shepard, Vashlani, and Vega stepped off the shuttle and readied their weapons. Kahlee told them to hurry because Cerberus troops were right outside the door trying to break it down.

As soon as Vashlani nodded, they opened the interior door. He threw out the two elemental bolts he had ready while the others picked off the two troopers who stood up when the ones hit by Vashlani’s spells flew backward and slammed against the wall.

“Sanders? It’s Shepard, open the door,” Shepard called out after she checked to make sure the enemy was dead. Vashlani toed one over and grimaced at the husk-like appearance of it.

The group stopped right inside the doorway when a woman pointing an assault rifle came out of hiding behind a desk. Once she caught sight of them she lowered her weapon and breathed out a sigh of relief.

“Commander Shepard, I’m glad you’re here, Anderson always said you were one of the best.” She took several steps forward and told them Cerberus was after her students and she needed the best.

They spoke a while longer and Shepard gathered as much information on how many students were on the station and where they could be. Sanders told her there were less than twenty left, most of them were tech students who were designing and testing weapons for the military while the rest were biotics training as a sort of biotic artillery. Shepard frowned and said it sounded dangerous to her.

While they were talking Kahlee worked to get the station-wide communications working again. They heard some static then a young man’s voice broke through sounding panicked. Cerberus had a bunch of biotic students trapped in Orion Hall and they needed help.

After directing Shepard which way to go to get to the students Kahlee told her she would stay there and keep trying to regain control of the systems.

The door leading to the hall opened up, and they heard someone screaming. Shepard gritted her teeth as they ducked down behind a row of seating and watched as three Cerberus troops dragged a student by his foot down the hall as he screamed.

“Damn it, we can’t let them know we’re in here or they’ll start to kill the students before we even have a chance to get to them. Come on, we can only hope to find the others and save as many as we can,” she said then turned toward the right as the others checked the two terminals and Vega picked up an extra heat sink.

They found a shattered window and climbed over the barricade. Vashlani picked up something off the stairwell while Shepard looked at a terminal as they waited for the next door to unlock.

They heard a looped recording on the communications channel from Cerberus and proceeded through the door only to hear a trooper talking to someone and the young man refusing to listen. Shepard pointed to the left and saw a student holding a barrier around himself while two troopers told him they would not hurt him because their orders told them to bring him in alive.

As Vega readied his Carnage and Shepard lined up her shot, they heard them threatening the student with finding his sister since she was only optional with keeping alive. Both Shepard and Vega attacked at the same time and both Cerberus troopers dropped lifeless to the floor.

They ran toward the student who was shaking with exhaustion. “There may be more nearby. Play dead until it’s clear then get to Kahlee Sanders in the security room,” Shepard said to the boy as he nodded and began to lie on the floor.

“Wait. My sister, she’s out there alone somewhere. Help her, please.”

Shepard nodded then jumped over the barricade into a classroom. They did a quick search of the room and found a report on a tactical review of a biotic student’s answer to a question. Shepard found some heatsinks and Vashlani picked up another datapad, he let out a chuckle as he handed it to Shepard. “Does this remind you of anyone?”

Through another doorway, they saw a student running away from someone only to be shot in the back by a trooper while at least one more told him to be more careful. Vashlani growled when he heard one of them say the student didn’t matter anyway since she wasn’t on the list.

Shepard shot the generator causing an explosion. The group of portable barriers deactivated, and they went after the troopers in the area. When all six of them were dead Vashlani knelt down beside the girl and checked her pulse. He shook his head when Vega asked if she was alive.

They picked up whatever they could then Vashlani paused for a second then took a few steps and stopped again.

“What is it, Vashlani?” Shepard asked.

“Shh, someone is nearby. Not a trooper, the sound is different.” Vashlani paused again then turned to the left, went around a couch, and ran down a hallway. They found a young woman, hurt badly, sitting on the floor against the wall.

The girl tried to tell them to stay back but Vashlani held out a hand. “We mean you no harm, we are not with Cerberus. Let us help you, your brother said you were here, and he is safe.”

Vashlani took out a thin tube from his pouch and uncorked it. Holding it to the girl’s lips.

“It’s all right, he’s giving you an oral dose of a new kind of medi-gel. You’ll feel better once you drink it. Kahlee is in the security room. Once you can stand, make your way there as quickly as you can,” Shepard said as she crouched near the girl.

The liquid dribbled into the girl’s mouth and a soft glow started to emanate from her skin. Her breathing became more regular as the wounds started to close. She blinked at them and told them she felt better and she would be okay.

When the girl began to stand up, they steadied her then checked the rest of the area. Kahlee came back over the comms telling them she received a message from Orion Hall telling them an instructor was with them but they couldn’t hold out for much longer, and she would try to get the door open.

Vashlani saw an active terminal sitting on the floor, and while the others waited for the door to unlock he slowly eased himself down and started to poke at the buttons on it. Whatever he did caused the generator powering it to explode, and it took out the terminal as well.

Vashlani fell back on his ass and slapped his armored hand down on the flames that singed his cloak as Shepard yelled at him for touching the stuff again.

“I don’t know what you just did Shepard, but whatever it was let me get control of the communications again. Thanks, now I can warn the students,” Kahlee said.

Shepard sighed as Vega reached down and pulled Vashlani up.

“Vashlani knew it was causing the problem all along,” he said as he flicked his cloak back into place.

“Uh-huh,” Shepard said as the door unlocked and slid open.

The group saw Jack holding off several troopers as the students tried to help and stay out of her way at the same time.

When Jack sent the two troopers flying, Shepard and the others entered the room.

“Jack?” Shepard called out, her voice held a slightly stunned tone to it. She heard Vashlani chuckling beside her as they went further into the room.

“Shepard?” Jack replied.

They both turned when they heard a slight noise coming from the doorway to the right. A large Atlas mech was there, and it was targeting a student. Jack tossed up a barrier to deflect the shot, and the student ran to where the others were hurrying up a set of steps to a room above the atrium.

Shepard and Vega shot at the mech to draw its attention off Jack when she yelled at the kids to hurry and run faster because that mech was out of their league. Then Jack yelled to Shepard to keep it off them as she ran behind the students to protect their backs.

While Shepard and the others fought the mech, Jack and the students did their best to pick off the Cerberus troops as they began to flood into the Hall.

Vashlani took a deep breath then stood up on the couch the others were using as a barricade and held out both hands. Ball after ball of crackling lightning flew from his hands and detonated against the mech. He took a direct hit from one of the mechs guns; it threw him backward, and he landed in a heap.

They all heard Jack yell, “Furball” before shockwaves and warps blasted toward the Cerberus troops again. Within seconds the mech exploded and Vega went to help mop up the enemies while Shepard dumped a potion into Vashlani’s intake port and refilled the medi-gel his suit had used.

“I’m alright, go help Vega,” Vashlani said as he sat up and used the wall to steady himself as he stood.

“There’s more coming, get ready,” Jack yelled and Vega saw her pointing toward the side of the room.

Vashlani dumped a blue potion into his port and ducked behind a plant container while his magic regenerated. Once it was back up, he stood and began casting a summons.

Near a group of Cerberus troops firing up at the students, a purplish-black glowing sphere began to form.

“What the heck is that?” a student yelled.

“Just attack the Cerberus assholes, don’t worry about anything else,” Jack yelled as she recognized one of Vashlani’s spells.

A seven-foot-tall being appeared when the swirling mist dissolved, the armor was black and silver with splashes of red, like dried blood, on it. It raised the massive weapon in its hands and began to attack. When the Cerberus troops turned, they witnessed a being that looked like a demon smashing into them with a war hammer and crumpling their armor as if it was paper.

When the last of them fell the Dremora vanished and the barrier surrounding the kids came down.

Jack shook her head and chuckled, “Kahlee said she was putting out an S.O.S. Who would have thought we’d get the Queen of the Girl Scouts to come to our rescue.” She turned to the students and told them to eat and rest then she jumped off the ledge and landed near Shepard.

Shepard took off her helmet to say something to Jack when the biotic hauled off and hit her.

“I warned you not to trust Cerberus didn’t I, Shepard. Oh, hey there Furball, good to see you again.”

“It is a pleasure to see you, Jack. And I believe you are these children’s teacher are you not? Weren’t you the one that showed me disbelief when I mentioned the idea to you a while ago?”

Jack grinned and shrugged. “Yeah well, I had some time on my hands and Alliance brass knew I helped you guys and offered me the position. And they seemed to take to my teaching style.”

The students laughed and repeated some things Jack shouted as she fought on the battlefield. Jack told the female to drink her juice because she couldn’t destroy wet tissue paper and the kids laughed.

Shepard’s comm unit activated and Cortez told her the Cerberus cruiser was coming back and they had only a few minutes tops to get the kids and get out of there. When Shepard looked up and saw how tired the kids looked she knew they wouldn’t be able to make it.

“Get the shuttle out of here, Cortez. Get back to the Normandy and we’ll find another way out of here.”

Vega looked over at her and Vashlani handed Jack one of the dried jerky snacks he carried with him as they spoke quietly together.

Jack and Vashlani both looked at Shepard when she contacted Kahlee and told her the kids were safe but the shuttle was a no go. They listened in when Kahlee told them she may know of another way but she needed station wide camera access. She told something near their position was jamming the signal and to look for it.

While the kids continued to rest the others searched the room finding some medi-gel, an open credit account on a datapad, and finally Vega found another terminal like the one Vashlani blew up. With a few code entries Shepard gave control of the cameras back to Sanders.

The group walked up the stairs and into the room where the kids were sitting around still resting and trying to let their amps cool down. Vashlani listened to some conversations as he tucked a few objects into his pouch.

Kahlee told Shepard the quickest way to the shuttle bay would be through the Atrium, if they could get to the bay and use Cerberus shuttles then the defenses won’t fire on them since they’d register as friendly units. The only problem was that Cerberus controlled the Atrium area, and they had the doors locked. But if they could find the magnetic lock release, then they could force the doors open.

Vega found the control for the magnetic locks along the back wall of the room and Kahlee told them they were good to go.

After Shepard forced the door open, she told the kids her group would go first and draw enemy fire. Jack said they would shadow them from the second level and help where they could. Suddenly all the student’s omni tools activated, and a voice came over them telling the students they locked the station down and all the Alliance people could do was to get them killed so they would be better off just surrendering.

Kahlee used the station’s comm to announce they were lying and to set their omni tools to private mode. One of the female students looked around nervously and said, “What if they’re telling the truth?”

Shepard took several steps toward the girl. “I’ve seen what they do to people who they said they would keep them safe. They’re lying.”

Jack grabbed the girl by her uniform jacket and pulled her closer as she tipped her head to the side. “Do you see these scars, Rodriguez? Do you? Cerberus did this to me when I was half your age. Look at them.” She pushed the girl slightly away from her and snarled. “We’re fighting to save your asses and you...” She let go of her jacket and took several steps back. “You are nothing to them. If they get you, then you’ll be nothing but meat on a slab.”

“O-Okay,” the young girl said. Her voice shook with fright and she looked ready to faint.

When the doors opened into the Atrium area, they spotted a mech on the other side of a low wall. Several Cerberus troops began to fire on the group and they spread out slightly. Vega targeted anything that carried a shield and used Carnage on it, while Shepard shot at everything that moved and used what tech skills she could. Vashlani tossed a thunderbolt at a generator and watched it explode taking out the Engineer trying to set up a turret next to it.

They moved from cover to cover taking out the Cerberus Centurions and Guardians while trying to keep the Engineers from setting up more turrets. A warp or throw cast by a student once in a while from the group above them hit an enemy on the stairs. Last, they concentrated on the Atlas mech. Carnage, rifle rounds, and thunderbolts all hit it while the biotics from the students and Jack hit when the operator moved the mech within their range.

The three of them limped through the doorway after finally taking down the last of the Centurions. Shepard contacted Kahlee and picked up a datapad to read its contents. Vashlani cast a Lifebloom at their feet; flowers and giant mushrooms sprung up and filled the surrounding air with a fresh scent. As the pollen settled on them they began to heal and regain some of their stamina.

“You’re just too weird,” Vega said as he reached out and touched one of the giant pink mushroom stalks.

When Shepard told Kahlee they were in the back area of the Atrium, Kahlee told her she and the kids would take a back route to the shuttles and meet up with their group there.

They restocked ammo and Vashlani made sure his magic was ready to go. They collected up items as they moved through the passageway.

When they exited the passage they saw more Engineers dropping from above and trying to reach the second story where the students were. Shepard and Vega rushed out to try flanking them while Vashlani moved into cover and began casting again.

They heard Vega yell what must have been a Spanish curse when a dead Centurion went flying past him and crashed into an Engineer sending them both into the wall.

“Oops, sorry about that Vega. I meant to pick up the shield and throw it, not the dead body,” Vashlani said over the comms and they both heard Shepard chuckle.

“Vashlani, do something about all those turrets,” Shepard yelled as three separate engineers were able to place them before they could take down them.

Vashlani targeted one, cast his lightning spells, and Vega hit another with Carnage to blow it up.

When the last of the Cerberus people went down Shepard called out to Jack asking if everyone was okay. Jack told her the young girl, Rodriguez, had taken a hit on the arm because she didn’t watch her barrier, but other than that they were fine.

Vashlani cast healing touches on Shepard and Vega as they ran around the Atrium to restock their heatsinks and find anything useful. When they finished they ran up the ramp and through an open doorway into a different area. Kahlee contacted Shepard to let her know they made it to the shuttle bay, but Cerberus had caught on to what they were doing and were converging on them. Shepard needed to hurry.

When the group got to the top of the short flight of stairs, they heard more Cerberus troops talking to someone as they ran into the area. Shepard and Vega shot both of the troops in the back as they stood trying to get through a small portable barrier that a couple of students had erected around them.

The woman who gave both of the troopers grief kept the barrier erected and told Shepard to stay back because she didn’t know who they were.

“I’m Commander Shepard. I’m with the Alliance and I’m here to help.”

She told Shepard that she didn’t buy it from the last guy that said it and she didn’t buy it now.

A young man that was kneeling on the floor began to speak. “The square root of 906.1 equals...”

Shepard said, “Thirty point one.”

“Hello, Commander Shepard.” He looked up at her and at one of the other students that spoke to him.

“David? You know her?”

“Yes, she rescued me from Cerberus, and brought me here. She made it quiet,” he said then turned back to doing something on the portable generator.

The others turned off the generator and Shepard told them they did a good job staying safe and the biotic students were up on the upper level.

David stood up and looked at the group then turned to Vashlani, “I remember you. Normandy crew.” He looked down at his feet before quietly saying, “Sorry.”

Vashlani shook his head, “There is no blame placed on you, none of it was your fault.”

David nodded and Shepard told him she could really use his help against Cerberus. He said he would help then told her he had hacked the security office and there were lots of guns in it.

There was a single gun and mod in the room. She found several locked crates and assumed those contained the rest of the “lots of guns” David had mentioned. She sent Hackett a quick memo about them then headed out the door in the same direction the tech students went.

On the way down the hall Shepard found a copy of an older model biotic amp schematic and copied it, she didn’t know if it would come in handy later or not, but it never hurt to have more technology handy.

They hopped over the couches that someone had moved into the middle of the hallway as a barrier and picked a few things up before opening the next door. There was an empty Atlas mech and beside it was an Engineer with his back to them talking to someone over his comm unit.

Shepard took careful aim to shoot the Engineer in the back of the head when she felt Vashlani put his hand on hers.

Vashlani started to move his hands in a different pattern and suddenly the surrounding air became drastically colder as multitudes of long, thin needles of ice flew from Vashlani’s hands and pierced the Engineer over and over until he froze solid and shattered.

“I’ve been wanting to try that spell,” Vashlani grinned and Vega shook his head as he edged around the frozen pieces of what it left of the trooper.

Shepard climbed into the abandoned Atlas mech and the other two followed her through the doorway and into the next room.

They saw the students and Kahlee up on the upper level with a barrier erected over them as several Cerberus troops tried to keep them from reaching the shuttles.

Shepard began using the mech’s abilities to take out the troops as Vashlani and Vega kept the others busy. She risked a glance out the main windows to see several students running for the parked shuttles as Jack yelled there were more troops coming.

“Watch your ass, Shepard, there’s a mech heading your way,” Jack yelled and called out for more students to get to the shuttles.

Taking down the mech was much easier when she could shoot it with the missiles and blasts from her own Atlas. Once it was down the rest of them ran for the remaining shuttles.

Shepard and Jack looked through the glass to see Rodriguez had fallen behind and Cerberus troops were chasing her. The girl stumbled and fell amid the broken glass and scooted back toward the chairs. Shepard used the butt of her rifle to try to break the glass to get to her but it wouldn’t crack. Jack sent a shockwave out and it shattered the glass and threw the Cerberus troops back far enough for Shepard to jump the barrier and run to the girl. Shepard helped her to stand then they ran to the shuttle.

“Joker, we flew out on Cerberus shuttles, check your fire.”

“I got you, Commander. I’m picking you up on the sensors, it should just be a minute.”

“Thank you, Commander. We would never have gotten off that station if it hadn’t been for you,” Kahlee said and Jack let out a tired huff.

“Heck with that. We kicked some ass, the next place we stop at you’re all getting inked. My treat,” Jack said as she leaned against the side of the shuttle. She joked with the students about what they would get and Rodriguez got testy when Jack suggested a unicorn for her.

“Maybe I was wrong, maybe they are ready to fight,” Kahlee said and Shepard noticed Jack turned her head toward Vashlani. There was a look of fright and worry Shepard had never seen in Jack’s eyes before as she stared at Vashlani.

Vashlani took a step forward and nodded to the group. “They are very strong. They are ready, but their abilities would be put to better use helping others instead of on the front line.”

The kids started to complain and yell when he held up one glowing hand. “It takes more strength to help those in need than simply killing something. To help a person who has been shot or needs protection is of greater use and needs even more skill. How would each of you feel if the friend sitting beside you died because you wanted to toss out a warp instead of erecting a barrier around the two of you to protect yourselves? How would you feel if your friend thought killing a soulless husk was more important than healing your wounds? Would that make you happy or would it sadden you?” The group looked at each other then down at the floor.

Shepard saw Jack’s shoulders become less tense and nodded. “We need plenty of support people, we have soldiers but not enough people to help keep them alive. It’s an extremely important role that few can do. Anyone can pick up a gun, aim it, and pull the trigger. But not just anyone can erect barriers, mod ammo rounds, or create a stasis field to help give others a chance to retreat. You will play a very important role on the field.”

“I’ve got you on radar now, Commander. Preparing to dock. Hey Jack, now that you’re Alliance are you going to wear a uniform or are you just going to get the Officer’s bars tattooed on?” Joker said.

“Screw you, ff…. Flight Lieutenant,” Jack said and Joker laughed for a split second before abruptly stopping.

“What the hell was that?” Joker said in astonishment since Jack hadn’t cussed him out.

“Jack promised to watch her language so she could maintain the necessary professionalism that we need from our teachers,” Kahlee said as she grinned at Jack and Shepard.

“That must be one hell of a huge swear jar you’ve got. I bet if we empty that thing we could afford another cruiser,” Joker said and Jack told the kids to cover their ears as she laid into Joker with every swear word she knew.


	7. Chapter 7

* * *

 

 

Shepard and Vashlani stood in front of the Normandy’s lift waiting for the doors to open when Specialist Traynor cleared her throat. “Commander, you’ve received some messages and I’ve forwarded them to your terminal.”

Shepard let out a sigh and nodded, “Thanks, Traynor, I’ll check them when I get up to the room.”

Shepard stood in front of her terminal reading the messages Traynor forwarded. The first one was from Admiral Hackett ordering Shepard to assist a Dr. Bryson on the Citadel with some research. The second came from Admiral Anderson telling her he was putting his Citadel apartment at her disposal for when she needed to take a break. And the third message came from Alliance Command telling her to get to Eden Prime as fast as she could, Cerberus had taken over the colony there and they had uncovered a major Prothean find. Shepard frowned, “Joker, set an immediate course for Eden Prime, no stops.”

“Aye, aye Commander. ETA seven hours,” Joker told her once he set the course.

Vashlani helped Shepard from her armor and watched as she tiredly walked up the stairs and into the bathroom. As quickly as he could he put both her armor and his into the repair unit and joined her in the bathroom.

The steam clouded his vision for a moment before he realized she leaned her forehead against the wall and just seemed to stand there. He reached over and picked up the bar of his blue soap she favored and a soft cloth then began gently washing her. She sighed and leaned back against him.

He placed several kisses along her shoulders then began to massage her muscles under the warmth of the flowing water. EDI warned them the water would need to shut off soon to be cleaned and recycled.

Vashlani reached over and turned it off before drying them. He cupped her face and tipped it up so his eyes met her tired ones. His lips were gentle as he kissed her. Tiny nips of his velvety soft lips soothed with a light caress of his tongue. He lifted her and as her legs wrapped around his waist; she felt a strange sensation along her calves. She opened her eyes and gasped as a pair of wings sprouted from Vashlani’s back. She felt a gust of wind as the room blurred and a second later she found herself laying on her back in the center of her bed.

She blinked as the wings disappeared and he went back to nuzzling her neck. “In a bit of a hurry, Vashlani?”

He only grunted and slid his hands over her body as he bent his head to her breast. She moaned and arched her back as his fingers found her center and began to tease and excite her.

His lips and tongue soon followed as her legs opened wider and he kissed along her inner thighs before giving a long, slow lick and tasting her. Her hands clenched in the bedsheets as he plied his fingers and tongue ruthlessly to her until she shuddered and arched her back, crying out and shaking as her body shook in orgasm.

He slowed his touches until her body relaxed then kissed his way up her body. He relaxed against her and slowly lifted her leg to wrap around him.

“It has been many months since we have made love, ahziss isha. I do not wish to hurt you, but...”

She held a finger against his mouth and gave a tired, lazy smile, “I remember and so will my body. We have very little time, let’s make the best of it.”

His eyes searched hers before she encircled his shoulders with her arms and their lips met. She felt him shift and fill her. When he hilted inside her, he paused giving her time to readjust to his invasion and prepare for the pain she knew would come as he withdrew.

He whispered something near her ear and instead of the soft, cotton sheets under her back, she felt the grass, smelled flowers, and a warm, tingling sensation she recognized as a healing spell began. His lips met hers and she felt the tearing sensation as he withdrew and his barbs raked her.

He surged into her again and her hands fisted in his furry shoulders as her body shook and she gasped at his next withdrawal. He didn’t give her time to dwell on the pain but kept a steady pounding rhythm going, and renewing the healing blooms he cast around them. Her legs shifted higher, and he moaned as her hips lifted to meet his. Her body began to relearn and adjust to his differences and the remembered pleasure he gave her.

He grinned down at her as she bit her bottom lip and groaned out for more. He could feel both the heat of an orgasm approaching him and the lethargy that quickly followed.

Vashlani gripped her hips and tilted her for several deep, hard thrusts before he hilted and felt the barbs anchor him, a second later the orgasm rushed over him. As the lethargy came, he flicked his thumb over her clit several times and lowered himself onto his forearm. When he heard her moan and felt her spasm around him he sighed and rolled on his side as his body once more climaxed and he drifted off to sleep.

Three hours later he jerked awake when he heard Shepard’s name being called over the comms.

“Commander, I’m sorry to disturb you, but another message came in from Alliance Command,” Traynor said and Shepard sighed as she disengaged herself from him with a hiss and groan.

“Thanks, Traynor.”

“Commander, we understand you’re on the way to Eden Prime. We’ve had reports there is a Cerberus base that may have Reaper tech. It’s important we get the tech so we can get a better understanding of what is going on with the experiments they’ve been performing and possibly even the Reapers themselves. What is your ETA to Eden Prime?”

Shepard glanced at the countdown timer on her terminal “Three hours, sir.”

“Good. Do what you need to do there quickly then head straight for the coordinates I sent your pilot. That’s all.” The comm abruptly cut out and Shepard turned to see Vashlani sitting on the bed watching her.

“You need to rest and eat, ahziss isha, even with my magic aiding you this cannot continue for long.”

“We have to do the best we can, we don’t have time to stop and sight-see or take long, leisurely breaks.”

He stood and gathered her close, “Then while you have even a short time between missions you shall eat, and I shall help you however I can. But do not disregard the need for Sophie and me to spend time with you. We need it, all of us.”

 

* * *

 

Cortez landed the shuttle near Eden Prime’s colony and Shepard, Liara, and Vashlani got off. They looked around and then at each other. For a colony under attack, everything was extremely quiet.

“Where are the people?” Vashlani asked as he drew out his dragon-claw staff and gripped it tightly as they began to wind their way around and through the empty buildings.

“Shepard, wait a moment,” Liara said as she studied a terminal she found as the others checked for any usable supplies. “There’s information here saying there’s some sort of resistance force that’s fighting back against Cerberus. We need to double-check anything we find in case it can help them. And listen to this, Cerberus found something buried in the ruins and have been trying to raise it. I saw some equipment further down the hill that reminded me of excavation equipment, we should check it.”

Shepard tucked a few things she found in her pack and nodded. Once the building was cleared they followed Liara down to the terminal that controlled the equipment and she hacked the controls.

They all stepped back as the machine started. When it raised into position Liara stepped forward and looked at it, then gasped. “Shepard, this isn’t a Prothean artifact, it’s a Prothean.”

“A Prothean? You mean a Collector?” Shepard asked as she shifted her rifle to one hand and looked at Liara.

“No, Shepard. An actual Prothean, before the Reapers changed them,” Liara told her then became excited. “There are life signs here, they’re unstable but there. It’s alive, Shepard.”

“Alive? A living Prothean would be a boon for Cerberus. Get it out of there, Liara,” Shepard said and looked around for any troops.

Vashlani edged closer and looked at the long tube that had excited the others. When he inquired about it Liara told him it was called a stasis pod. The person inside would be cryo-frozen and kept alive until the activation code initialized and they would wake back up.

“These are the same pods as we saw on Ilos?” he asked and Shepard nodded.

“Damn it, Shepard. Cerberus damaged the pod when they were excavating it. We need to find any documentation they made when they found the pod initially. I can’t hack it without the command signal to end the stasis mode and some way to open the pod physically without killing the Prothean.”

Shepard looked at Liara and the pod before nodding. She told them they needed to hurry before Cerberus figured out they were there and came to get the Prothean. She no sooner said this than an incoming shuttle with Cerberus colors flew in and dropped off several troops.

Shepard and her crew ran for what little cover there was as two Nemesis troops aimed their sniper rifles and one Centurion trooper fired its assault rifle at them as they headed for the crew.

Vashlani stood to cast a spell and was hit by a Nemesis sniper round and dropped back down behind his cover.

“Vashlani!” Shepard yelled, and he held up a hand to show he was fine. Shepard went back to shooting at the enemies and bright flashes of purple showed Liara’s biotics.

“That jekosiit wants to shoot at Vashlani, let’s see how they like this,” Vashlani growled and began to chant a different spell before he turned and pointed straight at the Nemesis unit.

The Nemesis’ sniper rifle disappeared from its hands and a stick appeared in place of it. They stood there stunned and Liara hit it with a singularity which cause the trooper to swirl in the giant purple bubble along with Vashlani’s staff until Shepard shot the trooper with her rifle.

The staff continued to move inside the singularity and Vashlani threw the sniper rifle over his shoulder where it slid along the metal scaffold and dropped into the excavation pit.

The Centurion lobbed a small object and Shepard yelled, “Grenade” just seconds before the blast happened.

Liara chanced a look over where Vashlani used to be and where the grenade went off only to find him not there. “Vashlani!”

Both Shepard and Liara were startled when a huge black and red being popped into existence and tore into the Cerberus troop with a large double-headed axe. The last Nemesis unit switched targets and shot at the creature only to cause it to bellow and swing the axe with greater force.

Suit alarms began to sound and EDI warned them of a severe drop in temperature. The air began to swirl with snow and ice as their helmets began to frost over. Just as Shepard ducked and Liara began to move out of their cover and to one further away they glanced up and saw Vashlani on top of a building with his arms out to the side and floating before their vision became fully obscured.

After several minutes their helmets cleared and Liara and Shepard looked over their barricade to see both the Cerberus troops had frozen solid then shattered. Vashlani sat on top of the building with an ale in one hand and a hunk of jerky in the other one.

“As soon as you’re done with your lunch, we need to get a move on,” Shepard said and watched as the empty bottle went into his pack and he leaped from the top of the building to land on all fours. Vashlani grinned at her then attached the faceplate back on his helmet.

The next building they entered had several usable items and Liara found more information for the Resistance and sent it to them. They looked around the area and found one locked building. They scouted the area before entering and as they turned a corner the whirring sound of a turret powering up had them diving to the sides.

The last unlocked building they entered had another terminal with information on it. Shepard looked at the items arrayed on a low table in the living quarters of the room and commented that they were attacked in the middle of watching a game.

They stood in front of the first locked building and Liara said it was probably a lab where they were studying the find. Shepard nodded and began the hack program on the door.

They moved around the room then came to a large terminal. Shepard turned it on. The holo screen filled with static and a strange feeling came over Shepard. Neither one of the other two noticed her eyes glowing green as she stared into the static.

When the screen shut off Liara let out a huff, “Well that didn’t help us at all, there was nothing there but static.”

Shepard blinked and looked over at Liara, “You didn’t see it?”

“See what, there was only static.”

Shepard shook her head no, “No, the Protheans were under attack. There were Reaper units trying to break into their bunker. A VI, like on Ilos, spoke to a Prothean and told him that the Reapers had already destroyed over 300,000 of the stasis pods. The Prothean touched a pod just as the VI announced their northern bulkhead door failed and they breached it. Then it became jumbled, but I saw how they activated the pods.”

Liara stared at her and became excited and asked Shepard if she was sure. Shepard nodded before rolling her shoulders and heading for the exit. They didn’t get far before several Cerberus troops attacked them.

Inside the next building, the screen once more filled with static and Shepard watched the scene play out as two Prothean discussed the war. The Prothean who carried a weapon directed the unarmed one to a pod. As the pod sealed an explosion rocked the bunker and Shepard witnessed the Prothean shouting to activate the pods. The Prothean VI stated that most of the civilians hadn’t entered their pods yet. The Prothean said, “Their sacrifice will be remembered in the coming Empire,” just as the enemy charged into the bunker.

When the screen shut off Shepard quietly told them what she saw, and that she had the command code. “Let’s go wake up the Prothean.”

As soon as they stepped out of the building, several shuttles flew overhead and dropped Cerberus troops. Vashlani concentrated on the Engineers to keep them from setting up turrets as Liara and Shepard picked off the four assault troopers running for cover.

No sooner had they defeated those troops and headed around the building toward the pod when even more troops showed up. The fighting went on with Shepard and the crew pressing onward to get to the Prothean’s pod before Cerberus had a chance to take it or destroy it.

During a lull in the combat, Liara pointed out that someone retracted the bridge to the scaffold holding the pod and they needed to find a different way to get to it.

Shepard looked around then pointed off to the left where she spotted a small dug out area that circled around the buildings. They jumped down and ran through the area. When they came to a ladder, they climbed up and stayed low as they ran across the roof of the building and jumped across to another building. Once they were across Shepard told them to check their weapons and get ready.

They slid down the ladder and moved across the initial ramp to the pod. After a quick check for more damage, Liara told her the vital signs were weaker, and she needed to hurry. Shepard held out her hand and her omni tool glowed for a moment as it transmitted the command code to the pod.

“It’s working. It will take a few minutes for the stasis to power down so we can safely open the pod,” Liara said excitedly then pivoted when another shuttle flew overhead.

Shepard’s shout of Atlas made the others switch their targets to the large mech as it stomped its way toward them.

Vashlani stood and held out both hands toward the mech as Shepard and Liara sent out covering fire. A stream of lightning orbs flew from his hands and connected to the mech one after the other, knocking the mech backward and keeping the operator from firing the rockets. When the mech exploded Vashlani dropped to his knees behind a concrete barricade. Shepard and Liara moved closer and continued to fire on the others until all the Cerberus troops lay dead.

Liara ran to Vashlani and helped steady him as he stood up. Shepard glanced at them then moved toward the pod when she heard a long, low hiss coming from it. She reached out and touched the symbols on the pod in a specific order and the pod cracked open.

“Be careful, Shepard. He may be disorientated, it’s been 50,000 years,” Liara warned as Shepard lifted the lid of the pod.

Shepard took several steps back as the being inside the pod began to stir. Four eyes opened revealing yellow iris with small black pupils and the Prothean groggily shook his head and blinked. When he saw the three people standing there, he reacted and hit them with a weak biotic attack. He fell from his pod and scrambled to move away. When he fell again, he looked up and saw a Prothean ruin in the distance and several of the colony buildings.

Shepard took a step toward him and placed a hand on his shoulder. She and Javik froze as his memories flooded into her about the last moments of the Protheans before they fell to the Reapers and how Javik had been trapped in the pod. How he learned that the neutron purge the VI set off to clear the facility of Collectors and Reaper troops damaged the equipment. He had been told the Protheans would remain in stasis until someone came to release them manually.

Javik and Shepard both stumbled when the memories stopped.

“How many others?” he asked and Shepard took a step toward him.

“Just you,” she mumbled.

He explained how he learned her language from reading her physiology while she viewed the Prothean’s last moments and their failure.

Shepard told him it had been 50,000 years. The Reapers had returned, and she needed his help.

He turned away from her when Cortez interrupted them over the comm to tell her whatever she did had got Cerberus interested because all of them in the area was headed straight for their location.

Liara and Vashlani approached and Javik grimaced as he said, “Asari. Human,” he paused when he looked toward Vashlani. “Unknown species.”

“He’s the only one of his kind here as well. It’s not safe here. Will you join us?”

Javik turned toward her slightly. “You fight the Reapers?”

“Yes,” Shepard said and waited for his answer.

“We shall see.” Was all he said before walking away from her outstretched hand.


	8. Chapter 8

* * *

 

 

Back on the Normandy, Shepard told Joker to head for the coordinates the Alliance forwarded earlier as she headed to her cabin to send her armor through the repair machine.

She had just slid her pants up when Joker informed her she needed to get to the Cargo hold immediately.

She raced out the door and toward the lift while trying to button her pants. When she walked into the cargo hold she saw several of the marines training weapons on the Prothean who knelt in the middle of the room. Vashlani still in his armor entered a minute after her and behind him came Liara.

“What’s going on here?” Shepard asked the marines. They told her that they had to brush off the manual to read up on first contact protocol. Liara told her he wasn’t a new alien, that she had been studying his species for many years. Shepard turned toward Javik who sneered at the marines. Shepard had them lower their weapons and she turned back toward the Prothean who stood up.

“He won’t be a problem.” She took several steps toward him as she said, “Will he?”

The Prothean lunged at her and grabbed her by the upper arms as he hissed, “That depends on you.”

Vashlani snarled and began to cast a spell as he yelled at the Prothean to get his hands off his wife. Liara placed a staying hand on Vashlani and told him to wait.

The Prothean told her how he sensed fear in her, about her anxiety because the Reapers were winning, then he let her go. He took two steps back from her.

Shepard cleared her throat and asked him what he meant by “sense.” He explained to her how everything leaves biological markers that could be read if one knew how.

Liara brought up the subject of the beacons and once more the Prothean grabbed for Shepard and Vashlani yelled to release her. A moment later the Prothean snarled as he asked why their warnings weren’t heeded.

“No one could understand the beacons or your warnings. It nearly killed me. We pieced together what we could and stopped an invasion three years ago.”

He turned from her and dropped his head then turned back. “You delayed the extermination?” She nodded.

Liara interrupted and began to type something on a small terminal in the room. “We found the blueprints for the device your people were working on. We’re building it now.”

“Device?” he asked and moved closer as the hologram of the Crucible appeared.

“Yes. The weapon your people were developing. I’d hope you could help with information about it,” Liara said.

He shook his head as he studied the information. “We didn’t finish it. It was too late, we ran out of time.”

Shepard sighed, “I take it you know nothing about the Catalyst?”

He shook his head as he said, “No” and leaned against the terminal. “I was a soldier, not a scientist. I was skilled in one art: killing.” Liara asked him what his mission was, and he turned toward her. He told her that among his people there was one person who was the exemplar of a trait. He was the exemplar of vengeance and he represented his people’s anger and how they demanded enemy blood be spilled for the blood lost. He had no other purpose.

Shepard tilted her head toward the door and the marines filed out.

“Those with the same purpose become allies. Those that do not become casualties.”

Liara’s tattooed eyebrows rose, and she shifted from one foot to the other as Shepard told the Prothean those views were rather extreme.

“That is because you hope to win this war with your honor intact.” When Shepard agreed that she did he approached her. “Stand in the ashes of a trillion dead souls, and ask the ghosts if honor matters,” he said as his four yellow eyes bore into hers. “The silence is your answer.”

No one said anything more until Liara quietly pointed out a device they found while going through the excavation site and wondered if it could help with the Crucible.

The Prothean’s eyes blinked once before he looked away from Shepard and told Liara it was a memory shard and all it contained was pain.

“I will help you fight. And the last thing the Reapers hear as they die is the voice of the last Prothean sending them to their grave.”

When Liara told him she had more questions, he agreed to answer them. For the next hour, they spoke and Liara learned that everything she thought about the Protheans was wrong. They were warlike, enslaved the other races; they gave them a choice, and many tried to fight the Protheans and they all lost. On and on the questions went until Shepard called a halt.

“Tell us what you need to make your quarters more comfortable and we’ll begin to fabricate them as soon as we can,” Shepard said and turned to leave and before she took more than a few steps he told her that his name was Commander Javik. She looked over her shoulder and nodded.

Back in their cabin Shepard and Vashlani sat on the couch and closed their eyes trying to grab a few minutes of peace. It didn’t last long.

“Commander? Engineer Adams would like to see you in engineering,” Traynor said and Shepard sighed.

“Tell him I’ll be right there.”

“Commander, we’re running low on fuel. The Alliance comm channels that are still functioning all report the comm buoys and fuel depots are the first things hit,” Joker said as she stood up from the couch.

Shepard closed her eyes and rubbed tiredly at them, “When we enter the systems do a scan for areas to siphon from. Wreckage, abandoned ships, things like that. Keep the scanning low-key so we don’t attract unwanted attention. We can’t afford to scan the planets for minerals, but if anything should look suspicious do a quick scan.”

“Aye, Aye Commander.”

 

* * *

 

Vashlani sat at her desk with a large tome open when she returned. He marked his page and after they sat back down on the couch he held out a small bowl toward her. “Eat.”

She mechanically ate the food and found her eyelids growing heavy. He leaned into the corner of the couch and pulled her toward him. She fell asleep as soon as her head pillowed on his shoulder.

Two hours later Joker told her they were coming up on the location and she stood up feeling refreshed. She looked at Vashlani and he said, “The food contained a few extra ingredients that made you sleep deeply. You can not take it often, but the stamina you feel now should last you through the next mission. When you return you must try to sleep normally.”

Shepard leaned over and kissed him, “After this, we are heading back to the Citadel, we need supplies and to refuel. There are also several things I need to do and people to go see. Once that’s done we’re back out here again. There’ll be no shore leave.”

He nodded and stood. “This one has things he needs to check on at home and at the College so I will not be joining you this time. Take care my love and let me know when you have returned.” After another long, lingering kiss he took a step back from her and dropped her hands before smiling and disappearing. Shepard began to suit up and headed for the shuttle bay, she only hoped the two hours of sleep and his potion or whatever it was he added to the soup could last a while, there was another stop they needed to make on the way to the Citadel.

 

* * *

 

Vashlani checked on Sophie in the stables where she talked to a goat as she milked her.

“Sophie, Papa has to go to Skyrim for a while. When I return we shall practice the next potion on the list.”

Sophie looked back over her shoulder and asked him to wait because she had a letter she wanted to send.

Vashlani stepped through the portal and at once opened the pouch containing Sophie’s letter to see who she addressed it to.

“Iona, Honeyside, Riften. Why would she be writing to one of the Dragonborn’s housecarls? Maybe further requests for food and herbs?” He kept muttering to himself and trying to look inside the tightly rolled parchment bound with Sophie’s preferred orange-colored ribbon. He began debating with himself if he should just open it and take a peek when a throat clearing behind him made him jump.

The Arch-Mage stood there with his arms folded across his chest. “I believe that it one of Sophie’s letters to someone here in Skyrim.” He held out a hand for the satchel that had more rolls of parchment sticking out of it. Vashlani sighed before tucking Sophie’s letter into the pouch and handing the whole thing over to him.

The Arch-Mage slung the satchel across his shoulder and indicated with a nod of his head that Vashlani should follow him from the storeroom. “We’ve received word from the Solitude docks. The boat departed a week ago and should arrive within a week of the other caravans. What isn’t sent on from Windhelm with Derkeethus will be gathered by one of the other companions and brought up with the delivery the Dragonborn set up from Solstheim. We’re expecting Whiterun’s shipment, and the ones from Riften and Windhelm to arrive together. The Dragonborn asked for volunteers from their companions to act as temporary guards along with the ones already assigned so there may be a few new faces if you’re planning on bringing help from the other dimension.”

They spoke a few minutes more before Vashlani asked where Faralda was. The Arch-Mage told him to check the Hall of the Elements or down at the bridge entrance into town.

Vashlani waited until Faralda was through reminding her students not to fall in with either the College of Whispers or the Synod because it would bring unwanted attention to their College, and Arch-Mage Aren would like to keep outside interference to a minimum. After the students dispersed, he approached her.

“Faralda?”

The high elf looked up, “Yes, Vashlani?”

“What else is there I can learn about Destruction magic?” he asked and she paused before she straightened to her full height.

She stared at him for a full five minutes before she opened her satchel and brought out a tattered book and handed it to him. “Why don’t you find out. If you can understand this book, and complete it then it will open up a means to even more powerful spells. Return it to me once it’s completed.”

Vashlani opened the book and flipped through it. Only the first page had anything written on it. He glanced up and gave her a brief nod before turning away and reopening the book to read it.

_Northward, haunted northern coastline_

_And south, Dwemer live and toil,_

_A simple place, a shield from draft._

_At this stand wield mage’s craft_

_So fierce the sea will boil._

He read it several more times before he removed his map from his pack and spread it on a crate and began to study it. Faralda stood in the shadows, a slow smile formed as she watched him run a finger over the lines of the poem and then begin finding the reference points on the mage map he had. She glanced back when she heard a slight noise and nodded when the Arch-Mage raised an eyebrow.

Vashlani yawned as he entered his pocket home and removed the saddle from Sipaki. He had retrieved his automaton horse earlier after realizing the quest Faralda sent him on to receive his Master of Destruction magic spells would take him to various points across Skyrim. First, it was near Dawnstar, then down near Helgen, then he had to go clear to Karthwasten in the western part of Skyrim to finish the quest. When he cast his last spell to activate the book a new spell had appeared, Fire Storm, and he spent a half-hour learning and practicing it before heading back to the College and handing the completed book to Faralda. She sold him the other two master level spells she had, and he tucked them in his pack to study later.

He sent a brief message to Shepard as he sat at the table while Sophie served their dinner to let her know he’d be back soon. He received an almost immediate reply telling him they had another stop to make on the way to the Citadel.

Vashlani gave a long sigh and Sophie looked across the table at him.

“Your mama is being pushed too hard with no time to rest and rejuvenate. We will be going to the Citadel soon. It will be too dangerous for us to take you there right now with all of the refugees pouring in. If there is anything you wish Papa to find for you make this one a list.”

After dinner, he began to teach her a different potion and gave strict instructions on the cleanup and what time to be in bed by, then kissed the top of her head and went back to the Normandy.

 

* * *

 

The Normandy docked six hours later, and an exhausted looking Shepard walked down the ramp and toward the skycar terminal. Several minutes later Garrus, EDI, Joker, and Vashlani walked down the same ramp. Garrus took a skycar toward a different dock while the others headed to the market area.

Joker sat on a bench and watched EDI and Vashlani move from stall to stall buying things off a long list of items requested by Shepard, Sophie, Garrus, and several other crew members who had to remain on the ship. The group stood at the skycar terminal waiting for the next car when EDI said an alert just went through C-Sec. Someone attacked Shepard.

Vashlani went into a panic and EDI told him she would go see what was wrong. The Alliance sent the location to Shepard concerning one of their scientists she needed to see. EDI climbed into the red skycar after promising to relay everything to Vashlani.

“C’mon Vash. EDI is the best one to go. If Shepard needs help with science shit, well, EDI has the entire Citadel databank as a resource she can draw on in nanoseconds.”

Vashlani balked but realized EDI was in a better position to help in this instance than he was.

Back on the Normandy Vashlani paced the CIC deck and bridge until Joker told him to go bother someone else. Vashlani snarled at him then grabbed up the bag of items Sophie wanted and went to the cabin to drop off a few things for Shepard before he went into the pocket bag.

“Sophie?” Vashlani called out as he walked into the house. There was no answer, so he went down the stairs to check the alchemy and storerooms. He scratched his head when he saw only the sphere in its usual resting spot. He turned around and went back up. After placing the bags on the table in the sitting room, he opened the outside door and called for her again.

There was still no answer, and he began to worry. Nothing could harm her in the bag unless she fell and hurt herself. He also noticed that Urz wasn’t around either. He checked the pond, greenhouses, and the brewery with no luck. He let out a long, loud whistle and waited. Several minutes later he heard the sound of hoofbeats.

“Papa!” Sophie yelled as they got closer and Vashlani saw Urz running and trying to keep pace with the mechanical horse. He helped her down and didn’t mention the ribbons and flowers woven through the horse’s mane and tail.

“What have you been up to, Sophie?”

“Exploring. I’ve been curious where the Sphere goes when it leaves the house. So I followed it a few times. There’s a large… well, hole. It rolls up to this giant rock and touches it. The rock moves and there’s this black hole there. It dumps the refuse, and the rock moves back into place. I started to wonder what else is here that we don’t know about and went exploring while you were away. There’s a small forest here too, there are no birds or animals though. It’s quiet there. Then there is this huge meadow that’s nothing but red, blue, purple, and yellow mountain flowers and Dragon’s Tongue, there aren’t any butterflies, I wish there were pretty butterflies of all different colors there. I will keep looking to see what else there is. Our home is wonderful.”

Vashlani brushed some leaves out of Sophie’s long hair and knelt down, “This one is glad you are comfortable in this dimension. As long as you promise not to go exploring without Sipaki and Urz, and take along a camping pack with plenty of food and water, Papa is fine with it. Promise me you will always have your talisman with you.”

Sophie grinned and reached into the bodice of her dress and pulled out the chain hanging around her neck, a shiny gold medallion spun and caught the light of the magelight hanging above them. “I always keep it on, Papa.”

Vashlani grinned and told her he had brought her items but he needed to return to the Normandy and couldn’t stay. “After we make sure it is safe enough, Mama and Papa will bring you to the Normandy for a visit. But there are strangers there and more will be arriving. It is not safe for you right now.” He kissed her cheek before she hugged him and raced into the house.


	9. Chapter 9

* * *

 

Shepard and EDI returned to the Normandy shortly before Vashlani did. They met up on the bridge to update him with what happened to her, and to assure him she was fine. The person she had gone to see was dead. The man that had attacked her was in the hospital after some sort of mental breakdown happened when she confronted him with not only shooting and killing the Doctor he worked for but also trying to kill her.

“Joker, head to the Summit location and give me an ETA,” Shepard said as they stood in front of the lift. Shepard yawned and rubbed at her eyes while she waited for an answer.

“Copy that, Commander. ETA five hours. “

The two of them stepped off the lift and into their cabin. Shepard barely had enough energy to remove her clothes. After Vashlani helped her, he quickly stripped his clothes off, and they spent a few minutes in the shower before crawling into bed. They were both asleep almost immediately.

 

* * *

 

Three hours later the alarm buzzed on Shepard’s omni tool and they both groaned as they rolled out of bed.

Vashlani put his armor on and slipped his helmet into his hip pouch. After a quick peck on Shepard’s cheek, he went down to the mess hall to start coffee brewing for Shepard. When he came around the corner a loud crash sounded and he looked up to see Victus staring at him. Garrus placed a hand on the Primarch’s shoulder and told him not to panic.

“Primarch Victus, meet Vashlani; Commander Shepard’s husband,” Garrus said. “He is the one providing fresh food for the turians, among other things. All he asks is that we keep his presence confidential, and we treat him as a person not an animal.” He lowered his voice even further and his sub-harmonics sent out a warning about not angering Vashlani.

Victus struggled to keep himself under control. His mandibles were pulled tight into his face and he took several deep breaths. What was he? An experiment that had gone wrong? An unidentified species from a planet no one had yet to explore fully?

“What- what species are you? Where do you come from?” Victus asked as Garrus slowly let go of his shoulder once he was sure the Primarch wouldn’t do something foolish; like attack Vashlani.

Vashlani’s tail whipped back and forth. “I am a khajiit and I do not come from around here. Vashlani does not like questions about himself. Do not ask more.”

“You were the one that used those strange attacks on Menae. They were very powerful and saved many of my men’s lives, thank you.”

Vashlani studied the older turian for a moment before nodding his head.

Thane came around the corner and saw the group standing there still looking tense. He passed by Vashlani and said, “Would you like tea? Sophie gave me a very nice herbal blend I have found quite delicate with a light floral scent and no bitter aftertaste.”

Vashlani’s attention switched to Thane, and he nodded. “Yes, I would love some. Has she shared the one blended with snowberries and gleamblossom?”

And just like that, Garrus let out the breath he was holding and Vashlani’s stance became less rigid.

 

* * *

 

An hour before they were to arrive at the Delegate ship Shepard went to grab a quick bite to eat. She found Thane reading a book and sipping a cup of steaming tea.

“Have you seen Vashlani?” She asked as she poured herself a cup of tea from his pot.

“Yes, Siha, he made the pot of coffee, spoke to Garrus, and had a cup of tea with me. We talked of the work of art he made for me in the Life Support room then said he had something to do for EDI and left.”

“Work of art?” She asked as she took the seat across from him.

“Yes, one of his magical creations. It is quite a wonder. By day it is a desert scene and you can see the wind blowing through the trees of the oasis and the sun sparkle on the water. By night it is a jungle scene with night animals moving through the foliage, their eyes gleaming, and the smell of night-blooming flowers waft from it.”

She shook her head, “The things he does rarely ever fails to surprise me.”

Thane hummed his agreement and went back to reading.

After finding out from EDI where Vashlani was she headed to the briefing room.

When she made it through the weapons scanner and into the next section of the ship, she stopped and stared at the crowd of marines and ship crew standing outside the room. The briefing room swirled with multiple colors of fog that glittered and flashed with light.

“What’s going on here?” she asked and the soldiers snapped to attention.

“It’s Vashlani, Ma’am. He’s inside there and he warned us not to open the door or try to get inside. He said he’d fry us then dump our ashes into a box and shoot us out the trash compactor. Then all that fog started to appear.”

“Now what is he up too. EDI, can you remind him I need that room cleared in less than twenty minutes? The rest of the delegates will be coming on board.”

“I have done so Commander. He requested you delay them for another ten as he is almost done, but needs to put the finishing touches on it,” EDI said as her mobile platform tried to see past the glass.

“Delay them? EDI, what the hell is he in there doing?” she asked as she pressed her nose against the window and tried to see inside.

“It is a… gift to replace the items that were left on Earth when the Reapers attacked,” EDI said.

Shepard hummed and took several steps back as a giant puff of dark blue smoke filled the room. “Joker, send a notice to the Delegate ship that we will be docking with them and using the lower hatch due to… security reasons, and have Beta squad prepped and waiting there for escort duty.”

Everyone in the hallway, except for EDI, jumped when a huge crack of thunder sounded in the room and bright flashes followed behind it. Shepard sighed and shook her head before beginning to make her way down the long corridors to the lower loading bay and its exterior hatch.

 

* * *

 

Vashlani breathed the last of the spell into the air and when the sparkles faded, he moved his hands in a large sweeping gesture and all the fog, glitter, and lights disappeared. The room was dark for a moment before EDI established the lighting again at his request.

He glanced over and noticed the crowd of crewmen looking into the room and talking among themselves.

“Okay, EDI, we still have five more minutes before those delegates get up here. Would you like to use your mobile platform to come and see what I have wrought for you?” He asked her as he put his helmet on and activated the seals.

“Yes, please,” she answered and the door to the room slid open and she entered. The door slid closed before the other crew got a good look into the room.

“This is for you; the others can wait to see it,” he said as EDI turned to look at the door and all the noses pressed against the windows. “It can only be viewed from inside this room, the glass is clear if looking in from outside,” he explained.

“I see,” she said and turned to look at the three glass walls that encased the room.

The three walls contained scenery of Skyrim. One wall had the wintry setting of northern Skyrim with horkers, mammoths, and small icebergs. When she looked closer, she saw the College of Winterhold near the corner next to the solid wall. Her environmental systems began to register a slight dip in temperature along the wall and then the images began to move as snow began gently falling.

EDI moved to look at the second wall. The scene was from the area around Riften. Aspen trees with leaves blazing orange, yellow, and red dotted the landscape. The lake had fish jumping in it, small dragonflies buzzing around, and deer and elk grazing nearby. Her auditory sensors picked up the sounds of wind and she saw the trees swaying and she could barely hear the ambient sounds of the wildlife.

The longest window showed a landscape full of towering pine trees, a carpet of thick grass, flowers, and ferns. EDI saw the head of a small fox raise up behind a cluster of red flowers and seemed to stare at her before it ran off. A stream ran through the scenery with more salmon jumping and a large black bear standing on a rock, poised to strike out if one got near it. The sky was a brilliant blue with puffy clouds and as she stood there a moment longer she could hear birdsong, the splash of the water, a grunt she assumed came from the bear as it lashed out and swatted a fish in mid-air.

“I do not know if that body has a way to smell things, but the flowers are in full bloom and they are giving off faint scents.”

EDI turned away from the scene to look at him. “This platform is incapable of olfactory sensations, but I appreciate the effort. I find this room… quite pleasing. Thank you, Vashlani.”

The door slid open and Primarch Victus, Wrex, and a salarian dalatrass followed Shepard into the room. EDI turned and walked out followed shortly by Vashlani after he nodded his head to Wrex and brushed a hand over Shepards.

Victus paused for a moment and looked around the room, his mandibles flicked, and Wrex cast a quick glance around before going to the solid wall and leaning against it. The dalatrass, however, tried to look more closely at the walls and began to ask questions which Shepard ignored.

Shepard closed and locked the briefing room door and began the Summit meeting.

 

* * *

 

Vashlani sat at a table in the mess hall reading over the message Sophie sent him concerning the messenger that had arrived earlier at the College. He had just sent her an acknowledgment to pass along to the Arch-Mage to tell him they would be ready to receive the shipment from the Dragonborn when Shepard’s announcement told him to be in the shuttle bay in thirty minutes. She sounded furious.

Vashlani watched Cortez fix a piece of the rather battered shuttle when Shepard, Garrus, and Wrex came storming into the bay.

“Shepard doesn’t look happy,” Cortez muttered as he shut off the welder and stored it away.

Shepard and Garrus moved to the workbench and began to furiously mod their weapons. Vashlani approached Wrex who stood next to the other shuttle.

“Wrex, it is good to see you once again,” Vashlani said as Wrex’s large hand engulfed his for a handshake.

“Same, Cub. Glad you’re coming along for this one.”

Vashlani looked over to the workbenches to see Shepard yanking a drawer open and gathering several other mods before slamming it shut again.

“What has my ahziss isha so furious?” Vashlani asked.

Wrex growled and lowered his voice to a soft roar, “Sometime after she and that salarian of hers stopped his assistant from experimenting on our females, several salarians found some live females and locked up in a medical facility. They didn’t tell the krogan nor apparently the Council just kept them hidden. A few weeks ago an anonymous source contacted me to tell me of the females. The salarian dalatrass that came on board with us knew about those females and tried to hide it, lucky that source also sent me irrefutable evidence as proof. We will go get them. If the turians and humans want our help, they better give us the cure for the genophage.”

Vashlani hummed, “What about the potions Vashlani gave to you? Did they work?”

One of Wrex’s red eyes turned toward Vashlani and his lips turned up just slightly in a grin. “We held a competition between females with the two winners given the bottles containing a possible cure. The fighting was glorious, the women that won were each taken into a tent and given the drink. We had one new viable birth a month ago. These females could mean even more births since they were subjects of Maelon’s research.”

Vashlani frowned before he looked up at Wrex, “I know you want a cure for your people, but why could it not wait until after the war? The likelihood a cure for all of your people could be found in a short time frame is not feasible unless someone already has it ready.”

“Because, Cub, they used once us in a war and then they hit us with the genophage, they need to fix what they did. My people are already dying out, unless we have a way that will ensure at least some of our people survive and can begin to repopulate then why should we help the ones that neutered us.”

“But Shepard’s people had nothing to do with that.”

“Casualty of war, Cub. I like Shepard and I like you, but I’m the leader of my people now, and I have to do what’s best for them. And getting them the cure is what’s best.”

Vashlani let out a sigh that the mask hid and hoped that Wrex’s obstinance didn’t mean doom for their people and not salvation. Not only of his own, but of every being in this galaxy.

 

* * *

 

When Cortez tried to land the shuttle opposition met them in the form of a squad of armed salarians. Wrex didn’t want to wait around while Shepard tried to get in contact with the dalatrass and jumped from the shuttle. Several glowing red dots centered on him from the snipers located around the facility and Shepard hurried to jump down and stop the confrontation before it got out of hand.

“We’re here to pick up the krogan females. The dalatrass should have contacted you by now,” she said.

A salarian dressed in black ran toward them, “Control your companion, Commander. We just now received word that you were coming. We’ll let you into the facility to pick them up, but the krogan must remain here.”

“Those are my females, I’m not sitting around here with these salarians while they keep them locked up,” Wrex said and made a threatening move toward the one salarian.

“It’s regulations. They gave Commander Shepard and her crew permission to enter, but not a krogan.”

Shepard put a placating hand on Wrex’s armor. “All right. We’ll get your females Wrex.”

Wrex didn’t like it but he went with two of the salarians while the others began to look around and try to find information.

They ran into Major Kirrahe, who was now Captain Kirrahe. They spoke together, and he assured them that no one in the Salarian Union believed the crazy things that one of his old team members said. “After all, whoever heard of disappearing and reappearing in a completely different place and rainbow-colored glowing inks? Crazy. Stress-induced breakdown. Heard you’re here to get krogan females. We found them a while ago wandering the badlands. Severely dehydrated, in shock, and very ill. Signs of torture, mutilation. Terrible.”

A few minutes later the salarian in black, who introduced himself as Padok Wiks, told them the security protocols were almost in place and as soon as they got the all-clear they could use the elevator to go down to the lab. They spoke with Wrex and Shepard shook her head when Garrus, Wrex, and Vashlani all got into a discussion on how to cook a salarian liver.

Padok Wiks waved at them and they told Wrex they would be back soon with his females. After the salarian told them everything was ready, he led them to a lift and pushed the button.

Just as the lift doors opened a siren went off, and an automated warning blared about unauthorized aircraft incoming. Padok Wiks shoved them toward the lift and yelled they would be met down in the lab by someone and to hurry and get the females to safety. He slammed his hand on the button to send them down as a Cerberus shuttle flew overhead.

When the door to the lift opened again Shepard blinked as Mordin grinned at her.

“Mordin? You’re Wrex’s source?” she whispered.

“Yes. Keep your voice down. Didn’t know about females. Wasn’t contacted until a few weeks ago, by then...” he gave an uncharacteristic pause then waved at them to follow him. He showed them a room with several body bags lined up. “By then it was too late to save these. I tried my hardest, but they were too sick. They waited too long to ask for help. Only one female left. She is weak but alive. Need to get her out of here and somewhere safe. Cannot let her fall into Cerberus’ hands.”

The group followed him to an enclosed container where a krogan, covered completely except for her eyes, stared out at them. “Are you here to kill me?” The calm, modulated voice spoke to Shepard, and she stepped forward.

“No, I’m here to rescue you. Wrex sent us. We will get you out of here and back to your people.”

The female gave a delicate snort, for a krogan. “Wrex is trying to repopulate the entire krogan species himself.”

Shepard grinned for a moment then stumbled as the facility shook when an explosion rocked the area.

“We need to get her out of here, Shepard,” Mordin said, then turned to the salarian who stood at the control panel to the lift where the container holding the female was. “Open the container,” Mordin told him and the salarian started typing on a panel.

“Against protocols. Protocols state when under attack everything must be locked down and data transferred to a different location then purged.”

Mordin held out his arm with his omni tool glowing and shocked the other salarian, knocking him out. He started typing something into the controls. “Will ride with the female. Meet you at the next control panel. Will need manual input to keep the lift moving. Hurry, Shepard.” Mordin finished typing then jumped into the lift as the doors closed and it started rising.

When Shepard and the ground crew opened the other lift’s doors to go up a small device sat inside. Shepard yelled bomb, and they dove out of the way. Vashlani barely had time to activate his mage armor before the explosion destroyed the lift and killed several salarians who were still too close to the door. One of the other workers pointed to a hallway when Shepard asked if there was another way out.

The group ran along corridors and hurried up ladders. Floor by floor they fought Cerberus and did their best to keep the container holding the female hope of the krogan species undamaged and her alive and as unharmed as possible.

They made it back to the shuttle landing area and cleared out the Cerberus troops there when Wrex informed them an atlas and Cerberus reinforcements were dropping. He warned Shepard once again that the female better make it if she wanted krogan boots on Palaven or Earth.

Shepard gritted her teeth and Vashlani placed a hand on her shoulder. Mordin told them the capsule couldn’t take a direct hit from an atlas mech and they needed to stop it before it had the chance of firing its missiles at them. The group got into position just as the hard crash from the mech landing echoed through the area.

“Concentrate fire on the cockpit. Take out that operator before they can do any damage,” she yelled and as the mech unfolded, they exploited its weak spot. Lightning, bullets, and concussive rounds blasted the thin barrier between them and the person using the mech. Mordin kept kicking the door to the elevator trying to get it to open so he could get out and help them, but the damage it had sustained kept it from opening.

When the last of the Cerberus troops fell Shepard limped over to the controls for the containment system and followed Mordin’s instructions on how to move the container into the other system to run the decontamination cycle and release the locks.

Wrex landed the shuttle just as the container opened and Mordin jumped down. Mordin turned to the female krogan and gallantly held out a hand to help her down out of the system when Wrex knocked it out of the way and held out his own hand in the same manner. The female ignored them both and stepped out by herself.

Wrex grumbled when she said, “I don’t need anyone’s help, Wrex.”

Shepard smiled and turned when she noticed movement register on her HUD. She turned to fire, but before she could the female krogan grabbed Wrex’s shotgun and blasted the troopers. She had only held the gun in one hand when she fired it, if a human would have tried to even fire the weapon, the krogan made Claymore would have torn their shoulder and elbow apart from the recoil.

The female slammed the gun into Wrex’s chest and walked down several more steps as she headed for the shuttle.

Shepard chuckled at the look on Wrex’s face and said, “I like her, Wrex.”

Wrex only growled at Shepard as he holstered his weapon and stomped toward the shuttle as he muttered, “Women.”

Back on the Normandy, Shepard, Wrex, and Victus waited in the war room while Mordin settled the female in the med bay. A few minutes later EDI informed them Mordin just left the Med bay and was on his way.

“You have the female, Wrex, why are you still being an obstinate ass about sending troops to help. Our homeworlds are burning and people are dying,” Victus said. Impatience and anger tinged his voice, but he did an admiral job of holding it in check.

“We have the female, but we don’t have the cure. Before I send in my warriors, I want all the krogan to receive it,” Wrex insisted.

Shepard’s mouth dropped open, “All of them? Wrex there're billions of krogan scattered throughout the galaxy. There is no possible way to give it all of them within a time frame that would save our people, and that’s after a cure can be made. If it can be made in time to even do your people any good, they are already being turned into Reaper troops.”

“Cure can be synthesized. Once Eve rests and regains some of her strength. Have Maelon’s research. Need time. Also, need a male genetic sample.”

Wrex grunted at Mordin and told him he could take the sample from him.

“Good. Med Bay not stocked with necessary supplies, and more soft blankets for Eve would be welcomed. Should talk to her, Shepard. Eve not what I expected,” Mordin said in his normal rapid speech.

When Shepard asked about why Mordin called her Eve, he explained the human reference he had associated with her.

“Joker, set a course for the Citadel, again. And let Vashlani know we’ll have some time to spend there as Mordin gets whatever he needs.”

“Aye, Aye, Commander.”


	10. Chapter 10

* * *

 

Vashlani’s datapad pinged with a chat request and he accepted it after checking to see who it was.

“Joker? Is there something wrong? Vashlani still has a few more things to take care of before returning.”

“Nothing’s wrong, Vash. Shepard wanted to pass on the message that we’re heading back to the Citadel. Mordin needs some stuff, so we’ll be there until they make the deliveries.”

“Ah, good, good. Excellent timing. Vashlani received a message from the Arch-Mage while we were rescuing Wrex’s female. The first of the shipments of food will arrive by this evening. The courier’s note said it was two wagon loads. One from Riften filled with herbs, venison, goat, and wolf meat. Iona also added several blankets she purchased from the khajiit caravans. The other is one wagon from Windhelm, filled with dried and frozen fish, sabrecat, and dragon meat for the turians. Whiterun’s shipment is late, though, but it is heavily guarded by the Companions so this one doubts it came under attack. Can you let Shepard, Garrus, and Thane know I’ll need help? Maybe if Thane could have Kolyat meet us as well, since he’s already covered under the Binding.”

After the call ended Vashlani scanned the rest of the letter from the Arch-Mage before checking Sophie’s latest potion, and new tea blend.

 

* * *

 

Vashlani heaved a heavy sigh as he shoved the last of his crates against the wall of one of his storage rooms so they would have space to store the crates of food coming in from Skyrim. He grunted as he dragged in a wooden crate he had magically enchanted to hold all the turian meat so it wouldn’t spoil and keep it separate from the levo meats. He hung a sheet of paper above the crate with the warning on it, just in case Sophie forgot which meat was to be stored in there. When he had everything ready for later he shut the storeroom door and headed to the casting room.

Vashlani made sure Sophie wasn’t inside the chamber before he locked the door and brought down his own tome of spells from off the top of the component cupboard. He opened it to the latest spell he had experimented with and started to refine it. He’d not only give the College a copy of the Books of Creation but would supply them with a tome of spells of his own making.

 

* * *

 

Vashlani hummed a new bard tune he heard recently from a dark elf that had arrived at the College. Apparently, according to the elf, it was the most requested song from him in Solstheim.

He glanced down at his daughter, who seemed to be extremely excited if her fidgeting was a sign.

An argonian came striding up the long staircase and into the College courtyard calling out a greeting to the people gathered there. “Greetings, the caravan is about an hour behind me. The wagons are heavily laden with goods, we’ll need plenty of help to unload it.”

Vashlani waved a hand. “Yes, yes. Help will be there. This one will bring his friends. Is the site secure? No one’s able to get into the building?”

Derkeethus nodded. “Yes. Kharjo rode ahead of the Riften wagon and met up with Agmaer, one of the Dragonborn’s stewards, and a new companion. Her name is Ursula. I am to pass on a request from the Dragonborn who is also accompanying the wagons. The Dragonborn wishes to speak privately to Commander Shepard and Vashlani about a personal matter after we take care of the shipment.”

Vashlani’s tail swished from side to side as he stared at Derkeethus. “Vashlani will tell his ahziss isha of the request. This one will meet you at the site with the others in a few minutes. Sophie, Papa will go get the others now. Go with the Arch-Mage and Derkeethus and wait for us to join you.”

Sophie bounced on her fur-boot covered feet and raised the hood of her dark-green wool and fur cape before kissing Vashlani’s offered cheek. She hurried along the walkway and down the steps surrounded by mages and an argonian bristling with daggers and a dragon bone bow.

 

* * *

 

Vashlani went into the College and through the portal. Thane, Kolyat, and Garrus were waiting for him in the small room on the Normandy.

“Shepard sent a message, she will be a few minutes late. Apparently, not only was there someone who kept conning refugees out of their remaining funds she had to deal with, but a hanar tried to drop the shields over Kahje because, ‘The Collectors are the Enkindlers, and the Enkindlers were helping the Reapers. Then so should their chosen children help the Reapers.’ The indoctrinated hanar tried to infect the system with a virus. Luckily, Kasumi was on the Citadel and had sent an anonymous note to another Spectre who joined Shepard in the hunt. They stopped the hanar. You missed your chance at getting hold of one to stew up,” Garrus said with a hint of amusement in his sub-harmonics.

Vashlani’s mouth dropped open and his shoulders slumped. “I knew this one should have stayed with his ahziss isha instead of going to the College early.”

Thane’s lips twitched ever so slightly, and Kolyat looked between Thane and Garrus. “Vashlani wanted to turn a hanar into a stew?”

Garrus hummed, “Yep. Been trying to figure out how to get one into his stewpot since the first Normandy.” It was all Garrus could do to keep his laughter and sub-harmonics under control at the sad hum and a sigh that came from Vashlani.

“Everyone is waiting at the empty house in town. The wagons won’t be there for a while yet, so we have time. The Dragonborn is accompanying the wagons and brought several companions. The courier’s letter assured me they know to keep what they see and hear to themselves. I will not bring them into my home, only help with unloading the cargo into the building.”

The door slid open and EDI walked in carrying a small metal box. “I have finished the fabrication you requested. Finding several components proved more difficult than originally estimated,” EDI said as she held out the box to Vashlani.

“You could do it?” Vashlani asked eagerly as he took the box from her and opened it up. Inside was a crystal gem, pink instead of the purple-black or white of the soul gems from Skyrim. “The color is strange.”

“Yes. That particular component gave me the most trouble. It seemed to be the one which created the purple color when added to the others. The mineral components needed to be broken down to its most basic form. I then combined ones I broke down from other minerals to make a compatible ingredient. It turned the composition pink.”

Vashlani purred as he held up the soul gem and looked it over carefully. “Can you make more?”

EDI nodded, “We have enough components to synthesize two dozen gems. Vashlani? Would it be possible to come with the group? I am interested in seeing the College and your world while using this platform.”

Vashlani hummed out an “Mhm. You’ll need clothes.”

“We’ve got it covered, Vash,” Joker said over the comms as EDI turned to leave the room.

“I will need to test this gem before we make more, hold off for now, EDI. Thank you.”

Vashlani sent a message to Sophie telling her they would be a few minutes late as her Mama had some last-minute errands to run.

Ten minutes later the waiting group was joined by EDI; now wearing a shiny, black vinyl outfit which looked to have been made to the exact measurements of the platform, Doctor Chakwas, and Commander Shepard.

Vashlani hurried them into the pocket home and had the group wait for him in the cellar near the storeroom. Vashlani went through the portal and down the long curving stone stairway to the main floor of the College. He waved to several people as he jogged toward the main doors, went through them and out into the bitter cold Skyrim night.

Ten minutes later Vashlani slipped through the doorway of an old abandoned barn on the very edge of town. After checking to make sure no one other than the Arch-Mage and Sophie were still inside the building he pulled out his chunk of magical marking chalk and began to draw a portal sigil in the center of the floor.

He just said the final word of the incantation and the symbol’s glow faded away as a thump came on the door notifying them the wagons had finally arrived. The three of them hurried to the door and unbarred it then Vashlani swung one open while Derkeethus pushed the other one.

The driver coaxed the horse to back up slowly and the first wagon entered the barn. The nord male jumped from the driver’s seat and approached the small group.

“I’m Agmaer, steward to the Dragonborn, this wagon contains the supplies from Windhelm. Or at least part of them. The boat from Solstheim hadn’t arrived before we left.”

Vashlani nodded, “Vashlani will bring the others here now so we can unload. Please remember you swore an oath to the Dragonborn that nothing you will see or hear will ever be repeated.”

Agmaer crossed his arms. “I know that khajiit. I don’t question my Thane’s orders and I’m sworn to obey them.”

Vashlani’s tail flicked to the sides as he narrowed his eyes slightly. He turned saying nothing more and flicked a hand toward where the portal would form. A few harsh hissed words and a swirling blue light appeared. Vashlani disappeared as he stepped through it.

“Come, my friends. They are waiting for us. They loaded the wagon with as much as it could hold. We have a lot of work to do,” Vashlani said as he stepped into his storeroom and waved to the others to follow him.

Agmaer couldn’t help but gasp and take several steps away from the cart when Garrus, EDI, Thane, and Kolyat appeared from the light.

They began to unload the many crates, barrels, and sacks from the wagon. As one of them would lift something down Shepard would slap a small device to the side of it and it would glow blue before raising up off the ground several inches. One of the others would begin quickly pushing it toward the portal. It took the group nearly thirty minutes to unload the wagon.

Agmaer inched his way around Garrus, who towered over the big nord and hurried into the driver’s seat. Derkeethus and Kharjo swung the doors open and Agmaer clicked his tongue at the horse. Several minutes later another cart slowly backed its way into the building.

A female covered in fur armor and cloth wraps sat in the driver's seat. After setting the brake she slowly climbed down from the wagon and moved to stand near the Dragonborn, who had just come through the large doors and signaled for them to be closed.

“It is good to see you again, my friends,” the Dragonborn said. The black and red armor looked even more battered and scorched than it did the last time they met. The Dragonborn paused for a moment to look at EDI before shaking the AI’s proffered hand.

“This is EDI, Dragonborn, she is a good friend, and a valued member of my crew. It is good to see you as well. Thanks to you and your companions for the generosity. This means a great deal to our people right now. The Reapers came up so fast the people weren’t prepared.”

The Dragonborn’s helmet turned toward Shepard, “You warned your people. I do not understand how so many could be so unprepared. With the dragon invasion, it came with no warning at all. They were not here then they were.”

Shepard shrugged and sighed, “They chose to not listen to me but to our leaders who just wanted to bury it and forget it. As if the proof I showed them didn’t exist.”

The Dragonborn snorted and nodded, “Aye. Just like most of ours here. They think if they can ignore a problem it would just disappear. Enough talk though, this is the wagon from Riften. It’s full of herbs, spices, wolf, goat, and deer meat, dried fish, and hare. Iona purchased all the blankets the khajiits had in their caravan. There are baskets of butter, eggs, cheese, and bread. Although the bread may be a bit on the stale side. It took us longer to get here than I had hoped.”

Vashlani waved a hand. “Stale bread can be used in many ways. It is of little concern. Thank you.”

The Dragonborn said something to the female in a voice too low for the others to hear before going over to help unload the wagon.

A few minutes later there came a yell of “Spirits!” and another of “Stowaway!”

Vashlani hurried over to where Garrus and the Dragonborn were looking at something in the wagon.

The Dragonborn reached down and hauled out a child who had been hiding under several furs.

“Put this one down!” The squeaky voice came from a small khajiit dangling from the armored figure’s hand. “Khajiit has done nothing! He is innocent!”

Shepard let out a snort and shook her head.

The small khajiit stopped struggling as he caught sight of the group and just hung suspended in midair with his mouth open in astonishment.

“This isn’t good. He saw all of us, Vashlani,” Garrus said as he jumped down from the back of the wagon.

Vashlani growled with anger at the small khajiit and they all saw the kid swallow as his eyes swung back to the mage who began to glow. “We shall take him up to the College, Tolfdir should be able to alter his memory. If that fails then we shall have to deal with this one another way.”

“Papa! No! Mi’Kah is a friend of mine. Don’t hurt him, please.” Sophie came running toward them from her spot next to J’zargo where she had been animatedly talking with the khajiit and Derkeethus.

The khajiit swung wildly in the Dragonborn’s hand where they still had a firm grip on his shirt as the Dragonborn leaped from the back of the wagon.

“Sophie! Sophie, khajiit needs help!”

“Sophie? What is going on here?” Vashlani said, and the Dragonborn lowered the small khajiit to the ground as Sophie reached them. The khajiit threw his skinny arms around her and held on tightly.

Sophie said nothing just stared up at Vashlani and held on to the khajiit who was smaller than she was.

Vashlani stared at both children for a moment before he pointed to a spot near the strange woman who had yet to say anything. “Both of you go over there to wait for me and your mama to finish up here. You have some explaining to do.”

Sophie hung her head and whispered, “Yes, Papa.” She took the small khajiit by his hand, gave it a tug, and they ran to the spot Vashlani pointed to.

The others hurried to unload the wagon only pausing when they heard the squeaky yell of the small khajiit say the tiny hat and bag they found were his and not to steal them. Sophie shushed him and Garrus brought over the cap and satchel. The khajiit scooted behind Sophie and peeked out around her as she took the items from Garrus with a hushed, “Thank you, Uncle Garrus.”

When they finished emptying the wagon, the small group of people walked to the College while most of the Dragonborn’s companions headed to the Inn. The ones from Shepard’s dimension followed Vashlani back through the portal.


	11. Chapter 11

* * *

 

By the time the mage’s group made it up to the top of the tower, Vashlani stood next to the Arch-Mage’s personal garden. When he saw the small group he rapidly tapped his foot as he pointed to a large chair and Sophie climbed into it. Mi’Kah quickly squeezed in next to her. “The Dragonborn had an issue they wished to speak to Mama and Papa about. Afterward, you will both explain what is going on.”

Shepard stood next to Vashlani as the stranger approached alongside the Dragonborn.

“Vashlani, Commander Shepard, this is Ursula. I have a favor to ask of you both. Let me explain a bit then I’ll tell you the favor.”

Shepard and Vashlani nodded. Ursula reached up and began to unwrap the cloth around her head. Long, thick black hair spilled out. Pieces of copper wire wrappings and small gemstones were woven into the braids. Colorful beads and small pieces of bleached bone were attached to the ends of several of them.

Shepard’s eyebrow rose as the woman finally removed the last of the cloth from her face to reveal light-green skin, enormous bright-yellow eyes, and two almost non-existent tusks jutting from between her lips. If it wasn’t for those small distinguishing features, she would look human.

“An Orc?” Vashlani said with a quizzical tone to his voice.

“Only her father is an orsimer. Ursula’s mother was human. As you know, normally any mixing of races results in the offspring being the same race as the mother. For some reason unknown to both of us, more of the orcish traits became dominate resulting in her appearance.”

Shepard crossed her arms, “Was?”

Ursula nodded.

“I’ll let her tell the story, or as much as she’s willing to share at the moment,” the Dragonborn said then leaned against the Arch-Mage’s desk.

“Mother was a nobleman’s daughter from Solitude. She was traveling by coach to Riften to meet with her betrothed to be married by the Priests of Mara there. Along the way bandits attacked the coach and captured Mother along with the dowry and killed her guards. They sold her to orc raiders who took her to their stronghold to give to their Chieftain.”

Ursula shifted slightly and her yellow eyes roved around the room for a moment. “The Orc Chieftain made her his fourth wife… against her will. She became pregnant with me. The other wives didn’t want her there and one agreed to help her escape. She gave her a pouch of supplies, two water skins, and a set of fur armor. Mother took the place of one of the other wives when they went to hunt outside the stronghold. She ran, disappearing into the woods and eventually made her way further into The Reach where she gave birth to me in a small, abandoned shack which she made into a comfortable home, and raised me on her own. She died a few months ago. The chieftain apparently didn’t like the fact she ran from him. He had raiders hunting for her all that time. It was just bad luck Mother went to the Markarth markets that day and one spotted her.

“They followed her home and attacked us. She died, and I almost did. I would have either been captured or they would have finished me off if it hadn’t been for the Dragonborn showing up when they did.”

“We stumbled over the raiding party as I was looking for Dead Crone Rock. If it hadn’t been for Aela’s superior sense of smell, I wouldn’t have known about the encampment on the ridge overlooking the ruin. She smelled the wood smoke from their fire and the blood as we got closer,” the Dragonborn said.

Ursula shrugged, “They killed the raiders and healed me. When the Dragonborn told me who they were and asked if I knew what was going on; I told them about my mother, and the orc chieftain.”

“After hearing her story, I took Ursula to my home in Solitude and tried to find her mother’s family. When we provided proof, her story was factual they wanted nothing to do with her because of her orc blood. I also found out through a contact in one of the Strongholds the chieftain still has a bounty out on her. Which comes to why I needed to speak to you.”

“Go ahead,” Shepard said as her gaze traveled between the orc woman and the Dragonborn.

“The chieftain knows Ursula is under my care. We’ve been attacked by several raiding parties since I’ve found her. He’s pissed me off and it’s my turn to hunt. But I can’t leave her unprotected. I can’t bring that kind of danger to my housecarls or those under my employ and care who live in my more remote homes. They usually have enough problems dealing with the creatures and other things roaming around; they don’t need orc raiders thrown into the mix.”

The Dragonborn heaved a sigh that rattled their helmet. “I also can’t leave her at Jorrvaskr or my small home in Whiterun because an orc would draw unneeded attention there. My home in Solitude is out of the question because her grandparents keep causing me problems there as it is. Riften is still full of thieves that would sell the information on where she was to the orc for a handful of Septims. Windhelm is too dangerous because of the civil war. They already found her in Markarth once, I’m sure they are watching my home there already. My estate in Falkreath hold is too well known. Morthal would have worked, possibly, if I had ever finished building it, but it’s only one room. Valdimar lives there and tries to keep the draugr and giant spiders from over-running the place. He would be no match for an entire orc raiding party.”

“So what is it you want from us?” Shepard asked.

“I want her to go with you; to your dimension and remain there until I can remove the threat to her and my people.”

Shepard blinked.

She cleared her throat after shooting a sideways glance at Vashlani, “Ursula would be in even more danger in my dimension. Not only are we in the middle of a galactic war against creatures intent on harvesting or annihilating every advanced civilization, but if anyone spots her, they could take her to be used as a scientific experiment. It’s hard enough keeping Vashlani a secret.”

Vashlani stroked his chin several times as his eyes glowed. “The Dragonborn trusts Ursula?”

The Dragonborn nodded.

Vashlani approached Ursula and studied her. He held her eyes with his glowing ones for a moment before he walked around her. Ursula didn’t so much as twitch.

“Hmm.” Vashlani murmured as he made his way back over to Shepard. “I think it would be a good idea, ahziss isha.”

“Huh?”

“Only if Ursula agrees to the Binding,” Vashlani said as he turned back to Ursula and the Dragonborn.

“Explain,” the Dragonborn said.

“A protection spell. You said you trusted Ursula, and this one trusts your judgment. Should Ursula wish to come with us, a binding spell would be used to secure Vashlani’s and Shepard’s secrets. The spell would ensure she could not tell anyone about Shepard’s dimension and what she may see there, or about what she may see of Vashlani’s secrets.”

“Vashlani?”

He turned to Shepard, “Trust me wife, Vashlani has a reason for this.”

He turned back to the others, “Ursula would remain on the Normandy at all times. Unless there’s an emergency, then she’ll be moved to a safer location. In exchange, Ursula will become the cook, this one hopes you can cook?”

Ursula nodded, “Nothing fancy, but Mother and I got by.”

Vashlani’s ears twitched, “Our Sophie can teach you. As I was saying, you will become the ship’s cook and watch over our daughter when we have to be away for a while. She is a good girl, normally,” he glared at Sophie, who blushed and clung tighter to Mi’Kah’s hand. “But this one doesn’t like leaving her alone for too long.”

“Vashlani? We really don’t need a cook. We have Vega...” Shepard began then crinkled her eyebrows, “Who only knows how to make coffee and a single egg dish. Okay, I see your point.”

Vashlani smiled and nodded, “Shepard is the Captain of the Normandy and her orders are to be followed at all times. Know that you cannot return here unless we accompany you. You cannot contact the Dragonborn except through the courier, and only under certain circumstances. While we deal with our daughter’s… friend, you can think on what I’ve said.”

Ursula nodded, and she moved off to the side with the Dragonborn who seemed to talk to her about something.

Vashlani turned to the two children sitting on the chair. “Now, Sophie, you will tell Mama and Papa what you did, and what you know about this khajiit.” He crossed his arms and looked sternly down at his daughter as she scooted off the chair.

Sophie cleared her throat and began to twist the edge of her cloak between her fingers. “When I lived in Windhelm before you adopted me, I met a boy named Aventus Arentino. When his mother died the Jarl sent him to live in Riften, at the Honorhall Orphanage. He told me about the headmistress there and how she abused the kids and wouldn’t let anyone adopt them. Then he told me about the kids there. At first, I thought no matter how horrible the headmistress was, they were still better off than me. They had a roof over their heads and a bed to sleep in.”

Mi’Kah slid off the chair and came to stand next to Sophie and patted her back.

“When you adopted me, I remembered what Aventus said. I thought about how different things were for me than it was for them. How well you treated me and how happy I was. I remembered how Aventus said the headmistress wouldn’t let anyone adopt them and it made me sad. Then one day I was at the market with the guard sent by the Court Mage and I saw Aventus again; he looked so pale and scared. I asked him what was wrong, and he… told me someone in the Dark Brotherhood showed up at his house because he performed the Black Sacrament. Then he told me he heard the news that someone killed the headmistress at the Orphanage.”

Vashlani’s eyes grew wide, “You had nothing to do with performing that Rite did you?”

Sophie shook her head, “No, Papa. I didn’t even know he was trying to do something like that. Not until he told me that day. He told me how horrible the woman was, but I wouldn’t have helped him.”

“The woman was a nasty piece of work, Vashlani. I visited the Hall once. She not only beat and threatened the children but told them how worthless they were. How no one wanted them, and they’d never be adopted. And now I recognize you.” The Dragonborn pointed at Mi’Kah. “You were there when I was. You hid in the corner, away from the other children and wouldn’t talk to me.”

Mi’Kah pulled the tiny hat off his head and nodded. “Yes, it was this khajiit. That hag beat this one for talking to a stranger who came to the orphanage the day before. Mi’Kah told them how we were mistreated.” His ears twitched, “Then in the middle of the night, the same day you showed up at the orphanage, someone killed the old witch in her bed.”

“Hmm, quite a coincidence,” the Dragonborn said as they crossed their arms over the heavy breastplate of their armor.

Sophie stared wide-eyed at the Dragonborn for a minute then turned her attention back to her father, “I wrote to all the kids there. I sent the letters through Iona at Honeyside. When I got Mi’Kah’s most recent letter, he told me things had changed for the better. Several of the children had been adopted already, but no one seemed to be interested in him.”

Vashlani’s eyes glowed as his chest vibrated in a distinctive purring sound.

“Why would Mi’Kah think no one would be interested?”

“This one knows no Nord would adopt him because of being Khajiit.”

Vashlani’s tail swished.

“Papa? There’s more. Mi’Kah told me he knows magic too. When I wrote him back, I told him all about you and the College. How you were a great mage and really strong. And about how you were adopted by a human, and how you found me and adopted me.”

Vashlani’s eyes focused back on the boy and stared for several minutes. “Magic… now this one sees. How old is Mi’Kah? Do not think to lie to this one.”

Mi’Kah twisted his cap in his hands and looked everywhere but at Vashlani.

“He can’t be over seven or eight, Vashlani. He’s tiny,” Shepard said as she came to stand beside Vashlani and looked down at the khajiit that stood several inches shorter than their ten-year-old daughter.

Vashlani said nothing, just continued to stare.

Mi’Kah finally sighed and put his tiny cap back on his head before he mumbled, “This one has seen fourteen summers.”

“What!” both Shepard and Sophie said at the same time.

Vashlani nodded, “As I thought. This one will explain to his wife and daughter later. Now, tell me about your magic, and how you came to be in the orphanage.”

Mi’Kah nodded then climbed back into the chair. His voice changed and grew slightly deeper and smoother than the high-pitched squeak it had been. “This story is not a happy one. Khajiit will try to keep it short.” The room grew quiet.

“Mi’Kah comes from southern Elsweyr. His mother and father worked on a moon sugar plantation on Khenarthi’s Roost. This one’s father became addicted to skooma. Mi’Kah’s mother worked so hard for so little coin. She had to hide it to keep her husband from finding it and throwing it away on that poison. Then she discovered this one’s ability to use magic and thought to enroll him in the small mage school there. On the day when they held enrollment she gathered up all the Septims she could hide around the hut and dropped off this one’s little sister at another khajiit’s hut for the day. She paid her to watch Tasha and told her we would be back later that day.”

Mi’Kah rubbed at his black and white face and sighed again. “The mage school accepted this one’s application. His mother paid the tuition and had a little left over. We stopped at a sweet vendor and she bought each of us a small sugar cake, and one for Tasha too.” Sophie saw how upset Mi’Kah acted and squished herself next to him on the chair.

His fingers plucked at the satchel lying in his lap. “We stopped to pick up Tasha and the woman who was supposed to watch her told mother that she gave Tasha to father when he came looking for her. Mother began crying, and we ran all the way home to find father unconscious on the floor surrounded by purple skooma bottles and the bubbler still smoking. Mother smashed it and began yelling for Tasha. When we couldn’t find her we went searching for her. One of the other workers told mother she saw father and Tasha heading toward town. We found more people who spotted them earlier. One of them told her she saw father enter a home down the street and come back out twenty minutes later without Tasha.”

“Mother ran, and we started yelling and banging on the door. A khajiit male answered the door. The sickly sweet odor of skooma poured from inside the house. No, not a house. A skooma den. He started laughing and told us father had sold Tasha to him for ten bottles of skooma. He said he saw the kit hours and hours ago, then pointed to the back of the house. Mother hurried behind the house and tripped on something. When she stood up she screamed. My beautiful sister lay in a heap like garbage. Her body lay in a pool of blood and left her naked. She was five.

“That night Mother packed up some clothes for both of us, and we stowed away in a ship heading for the mainland. Mother was never quite the same. We joined a caravan, and it took three years to make it to Skyrim. She took ill when the caravan stopped outside of Riften. The caravan left us behind when she was too sick to travel. When she died, the guards dragged me to that orphanage. They wouldn’t believe this khajiit was twelve years old. They thought Mi’Kah was six because he is small.”

“Shit,” Shepard murmured and rubbed the back of her head.

Vashlani took several deep breaths and closed his eyes for several minutes. Mi’Kah wrapped a spindly arm around a crying Sophie as Vashlani knelt down beside his daughter. A soothing purr echoed in the room as he stroked her hair. Shepard rubbed Sophie’s back and patted Mi’Kah’s shoulder. After several minutes Sophie stopped crying and Vashlani stood back up.

“Tell me of your magic.”

“This one has no formal training and knows very little, but will learn.”

“Show me what you know.”

Mi’Kah shot a glance at Sophie, who paled.

Vashlani waited for Mi’Kah to stand up. When the small khajiit moved a short distance away, Vashlani moved away from the others. Both he and the Arch-Mage, who had been quietly observing everything, prepared themselves to counter anything which may go haywire from an untrained mage’s spell.

Mi’Kah rubbed his hands on his patched linen pants before he held them out in front of himself. Vashlani’s eyes narrowed as the boy began the incantation. When a ball of light rose from his palms and circled his head, Vashlani hissed. The candlelight spell changed from purple to blue to pink then back to purple.

“What in Oblivion?” the Arch-Mage said as he took a step closer to see the spell better.

“Sophie,” Vashlani hissed and a watery hiccup sounded from his daughter as she inched her way behind Shepard. “Stop hiding behind your mother and come here young lady.”

Sophie looked up at Shepard. Shepard frowned and raised an eyebrow. Sophie sighed and slowly made her way over to Vashlani.

“What did you do?” Vashlani said to her. Sophie hung her head.

“I copied a couple of spells from the book you had in the casting chamber and sent them to him. I wanted him to learn them so when he got here the College would take him as a student.”

“What other spells did you send to him? Not all of those spells were safe.”

“Just one other one.” She swallowed. “I also took some of your invisibility potions, one of the magical bags, some food, two water skins, two furs, and a blanket. I stuffed it into the pouch I threw into the portal after his letter arrived. I told him about the Dragonborn bringing a wagonload of stuff here, and to use the items to sneak on board and come to the College.”

Vashlani sighed. “Show me, Mi’Kah; if you know it.”

Mi’Kah’s tail drooped because he hadn’t wanted to get Sophie into trouble with her father. He nodded and held out a black fur-covered hand.

His hand glowed as a small pink flame formed. It danced around in his palm for a moment before it solidified. Vashlani drew in a breath and waited. A moment later the pink crystal moved and large butterfly wings unfurled. The pink butterfly flew upward and circled Mi’Kah’s head before fluttering toward Sophie. She gasped when it landed on one of her braids and turned into a crystal hair ornament.

Vashlani took several steps toward the much smaller khajiit. “No one taught you?”

The boy shook his head no.

Vashlani crouched down. His eyes glowed as he stared into the green eyes of the boy. A minute passed as Vashlani seemed to assess the other before he nodded.

“You will come with us. Not attending the College. This one offers you an apprenticeship. If you want, you can be a brother to Sophie.”

Sophie gasped and Shepard threw her hands up in the air. “Vashlani what the hell is going on?”

“The spells our daughter copied and sent to Mi’Kah were ones I created. The first one was a candlelight spell I modified and combined with a Creation spell that is no longer known to any mage, other than myself. The butterfly was one I crafted. The spell is complex. Mi’Kah learned it in the matter of months without a teacher. He is naturally gifted.”

“Papa, do you mean it? Mi’Kah can come with us? He’ll be my little brother… err, older brother?” Sophie squealed and threw her arms around Vashlani then ran to Mi’Kah, almost knocking him down when she flung herself at him.

“Whoa, whoa, whoa. What’s all this talk about brothers?” Shepard said and dropped into the chair the kids vacated.

**Author's Note:**

> This is still a WIP. At the time of posting, I've only got 17 chapters finished to the point of editing. I'm continuing to write this story along with the others, but because of health reasons and a serious lack of continuing interest in the Mass Effect Franchise, it is becoming more difficult to find the motivation to write the fandom's stories.
> 
> *~*
> 
> **Ahziss isha**  
>  Vashlani’s nickname for Shepard. T`Agra for my love.


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